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Woods in Spring — Dogwood in Blossom 

From Agriculture : Its Fundamental Principles. By Soule and Turpin, 
Permission B. F. Johnson Publishing Co., Richmond, Va. 



ARBOE AND BIED DAY ANN'OUNCEMENT. 

In most states of the Union an Arbor Day is provided for by law, 
but in West Virginia no measnre of tliis kind has ever been enacted 
by our Legislature. The observance of such an occasion, however, has 
not l.ieen overlooked by our people, and every year for over a quarter 
of a century, the schools of the State have been observing an Arbor 
Day appointed by the State Sn])erintendent of Schools. Not only has 
this work resulted in improving school grounds and school surround- 
ings in many places, l)ut its influence has reached the homes of our 
people and shows itself in imjjroved conditions there. More shade 
trees have been planted; shrubbery and flowers have been put out; 
the garden has been cleaned up and made more attractive; and the 
influence of such work inade to show itself in many ways on the farm, 
on the streets of our cities, and in public places. 

In accordance with this cnstom, the second Friday in April has 
liecn olisiTvod by onr schools for a number of years as Arbor Day, 
and ] trust that more will be accomplished this year than ever before. 
There should be general interest in this work all over the state on 
Friday, April the tenth. Let its influence be seen not only around 
our scliool buildings and onr country homes, but in towns and cities. 
as well. The streets in many of our cities, towns and villages can 
be greatly improved by tree-planting and proper arrangement of 
shrubbery. Xot only will the eft'ect of this work be felt ir^ an ethical 
sense, but it will also have a l)eariug on sanitary conditions because 
beauty and cleanliness are very intimately related. Furthermore, a 
general movement for civic betterment would manifest itself in be- 
half of good roads, the preservation of our forests, a purer water sup- 
ply and all that relates to our material, social and educational pro- 
gress. 

T suggest also that special ]irominence be given to the subject of 
bird study and that on this occasion Audubon Societies be organized 
in many of our schools. Our songsters are fast disappearing, and 
the youth of this state should be taught to love and protect the birds 
instead of destroying them. 

Trusting that Arbor Day nuiy 1)e observed all over the state this 
year, and that its beneficent influence will be felt not only now, but 
leave a rich heritage for the future. I am 

Yerv sincerclv. 



Stair Stipf. of Scliooh. 



C^ARLESTO^^ W. Ya.. March 10, 190S. 



IXTRODUCTIOX. 

If the observance of Arbor Da_y ends with the exercises in the 
school room, lioAvever pleasant and entertaining they may be. the real 
purpose of the day will not have been accomplished. There must 
be some practical work not only in and around the school building, 
but the influence must reach the home surroundings as well. In 
some schools in former years, every pupil has pledged himself to plant 
something at home, either a tree, shrub, flower or something in the- 
garden, and the interesting stories that could be told of some of this 
work done in this state years ago, would fill a book. The true spirit 
of Arbor and Bird Day is the influence on the life and character of 
the pupils as exemplified in practical work. A love for the beautiful 
as well as a desire for the more useful should be cultivated, and all 
that pertains to material prosperity should ho made prominent. It is 
not always the homes of the more wealthy, but the homes surrounded 
by indications, of taste, culture and refinement that mc thi' most at- 
tractive. These things being emphasized, the youth oL' our state 
will have better ideals and will be prepared to take higher standing 
as citizens of our commouwealth. Let us then make Arbor and Bird 
Day practical by doing some real ])lanting and by learning somctliing 
useful about trees, birds and the great animate world about us. 

A number of suggestions under "Notes and Suggestions" will be- 
found in the Aniuml. and the bcnulirul plates, both colored aiul half- 
tone, will tell their own story. These illustrations of wluil has been 
done in many places in the way of improving school grounds and 
bettering \hc conditions of home and village life, Avill. it is believed. 
prove helpful to many of the youth of this state, showing them what 
can be done where there is a desire for better things. 

Acknowledgment is hereby made to the Xational Audubon Societies 
of Xew York City, to Houghton, Miftlin & Co.. Boston, to (iinn & 
Co., 'New York, to V>. F. Johnson Pub. 'Co., Richmond, A'irginia. ta 
Sui)t. (). J. Kci'u. l>oekroi-(|, Illinois, to Prof. A. B. (Iraham of the 
Ohio State I 'iii\ci'sity, and to the Flower Mission. Clevelan<l. Ohio, 
for a mnuhei' of the cuts in the .\nnnal. 



SUGGESTIVE PEOGEAM FOE AEBOE AND BIED DAY. ' 

Song — The West Virginia Hills. 

Eesponsive Scripture Reading — Teacher and School. 

Reading the President's Message to the school cliildren of tho 
United States. 

Reading the Governors letter to the schools of West A^irginia. 

Reading — The History of Arbor Day. 

Essay — Benefits of Trees, Flowers and Birds, 
j^^gsav — The Trees Most Common in our County. 

Essay — Beautify School Grounds. 

Essay— "How Birds Help Us." 

Reading — Some Historic Trees. 

Exercises — "What the Trees Teach Us," by fourteen pupils. 
"''Trees in the Seasons," by four pupils. 

Quotations and Gems. 

Song — "We Love the Trees." 

Recitations, poems and extracts, concerning Trees, Birds and 
FloAvers. 

Brief reports of observations by pupils: 

(a) Of iSTiee School Grounds. 

(b) Of Well-kept Home Grounds. 

(c) Of Shaded Avenues and Roads. 

(d) Of Beautiful Trees. 

(e) Of Large Forest Areas. 

Paper — "The Importance of Protecting the Forests of West Vir- 
ginia." 

Short address by a speaker chosen for the occasion. 

Brief remarks by trustees, members of the l)oard and others. 

Instruction as to planting l)oth in school grounds and at home. 

Music — "America." 

Planting and dedication of Trees. 

Song — "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean." 

SUGGESTIONS. 

1. Provide plenty of good music, and decorate the school room 
with pictures of trees, birds and pretty homes. 

2. Give especial emphasis to poems, quotations and to reports by 
the pupils. 

3. Select trees and shrubbery for planting before liand, and have 
the aronnd made readv in time — a good rich soil. 



4. The program should be long enough to admit of variety, but not 
so long as to be wearisome. Give i)laces upon it to all the pupils, 
if possible. Have nnieh in it about Arbor day and about trees, flow- 
ers and birds. Pieces included in the suggested program will be 
found either in this Annual, or in the Annuals of former years. 

SCKIPTURE READING FOR ARBOR DAY. 

Teacher — T will plant in the wilderness the cedar tree, and the 
myrtle, and tbe oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the 
pine and the box tree together. 

Pupils — Blessed is the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord, 
He shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water that bringeth 
its fruit in its season, whose leaf also doth not wither, and whatso- 
ever he doeth shall prosper. 

Teacher — I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits- 
of the valley, and to see whether the vine flourished, and the pome- 
granates budded. 

Pupils- — And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the 
earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, 
and shall know that I am the Lord. 

Teacher — For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land; 
a land of brooks of water of fountains and depths that spring out 
of valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley and vines, and fig- 
trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil, olive and honey; a land where- 
in thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any- 
thing in it; a land whose stones are iion. and out of wdiose hills thou 
mayest dig brass. 

Pupils — And Israel said take of the best fruits of the land in your 
vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little 
honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts and almonds. 

Teacher — Wisdom is a tree of life to tliem that lay hdld upon 
her: and happy is every one that retaineth her. 

Pupils — The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life. 

Teacher — Even so every good tree bringetli forth good fruit ; but 
a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 

Teacher and School — To him that overcometh will I give to eat ot 
the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. 




The Phoebe. 




I mm,/' .. 



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I '.f 







The Red-Headed Woodpecker. 

Courtesy U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



8 

PEO'CLAMATIOX OF THE I'lJKSlDEXT TO THE SCHOOL 
CHILDIJEX OF THE UXITED STATES. 

To THE School Children of the United States : 

Arbor Day (which means simply "Tree Day") is now observed in 
every State in our Union — and mainly in the schools. At various 
times from January to December, but chiefly in tbis month of April, 
you give a day or part of a day to special exercises and perhaps to 
actual tree planting, in recognition of the importance of trees to us 
iis a nation, and of what they yicUl in adornment, comfort, and 
nseful pi'oduets to the communities in which you live. 

It is well that you should celebrate your Arbor Day thoughtfully, for 
Avithin you]- lirotinie the Nations need of tret's will become serious. 
"We of an older generation can get along with what we have, though 
with growing hardship ; but in your full manhood and womanhood 
you will want what nature once so bountifully supplied and man so 
thoughtlessly destroyed ; and because of tliat Avant you will reproach 
ns, not for what we have used, but for wliat we have wasted. 

For tbc nation as for the man or woman and the 1)ov or girl, 
the road to success is the right use of what we ha\e and the improve- 
ment of present opportunity. If you neglect to ])repare yourselves 
now for tbe duties and responsibilities wliich will fall upon you 
later, if you do not leai'u the things Avhich you will need to know 
Avhen your schools days are (jver, you will suffer the consequences. 
So any nation which in its youth lives only for the day, reaps with- 
out sowing, and consumes without husbanding nnist expect the jjen- 
jilty of the prodigal, whose labor could witli ditliculty find him the 
l)are means of life. 

A people without children would face a liopt'less future; a country 
Avithout trees is almost as hopeless; forests wliieli are so used that 
they can not renew themselves will soon xnnisli, and with them all 
their benefits. A true forest is not meivly a storehousi' I'ldl of AA^ood, 
but, as it Avere, a factory of wood, and at the same lime a reservoir 
of A\^at«r. When you help to ])reserve oui- forests or to ])lant neAV ones 
you are acting the part of good citizens. 'I'h.e value of forestrv de- 
serves, therefoi-e. to he laught in the schools, which aim to make 
good citizens of you. if your Ai-hor Day exei'cises help you to rea- 
lize what benefits each one of you receive fi'om the forests, and hoAv 
bv your assistance these henelits mav continue. Ihev will serve a Sfood 
end. 

Tiieodokm: IIoosevelt. 
The White Horsi:. April ir,, inn:. 




A feiciAK .Mai'I.i:. 

Thousands like this in West Virginia. Is there one in your Home Grounds 

or in your school yard? 




FloWEES Add to the iiOME-LIKEXESS OF THE SCHOOL-ROOM. 



9 
GOVERXOE DAWSOX'S LETTEE TO THE SCHOOLS. 

Charleston-, W. Va., March 12, 1908. 
To fJie School Children of West Yivglnia: 

Yonr good head-master, Mr. State Superintendent Thomas C. Mil- 
ler, has asked me to write a word about Ar))or Day, which is also 
Bird Da)' and Cleaning-up Day. 

•We ought to make war on dirt and filth, l^ecause wise men have 
found out that disease is caused by tiny animals, which we cannot see 
with the naked eye, and that these dreadful things breed and live 
in dirt and filth. 

Birds : What girl or boy who does not love birds ! Would it not 
be well for each of you to learn all you can about the birds of West 
Virginia : their names, their songs and calls, their colors, liow they 
Ijuild tlioir nests, where they go in the winter, and other things about 
them ? 

Arbor Day ineans the same as '"Tree Day." If it can be done, let 
everyone, or a number of you together, plant a tree, give it a name, 
Avrite down an account of the planting, which will tell the kind of 
tree planted, where planted, who they were that planted it, and the 
name you gave it. But the tree will need care after it is planted, 
at least while it is young; agree about caring for it. Ar1)0T Day is 
also a fit day to care for trees, to see that those planted liefore have 
needed attention. Trees are living things, though they cannot move 
about from place to place, as birds and dogs do ; but trees eat, breathe, 
liave blood, and they go to sleep and A\'ake up again. Trees are very 
useful. Find out in how many ways trees are useful. Why are 
crowds of trees A\'hich we call forests useful ; and how may we protect 
our forests from being destroyed? I am going to Washington to 
meet the President and the Governors of all the other States, and on 
the 13th, 14th and 15th days of May we will talk about the value 
of forests and how they can best be preserved. I shall be glad to have 
vou write me how you think it can best be done. Learn aliout the 
trees of West Virginia: their names and kinds, their uses, where 
they grow, why one kind of a tree grows in one place and another 
kind of a tree grows in another place, and so forth. 

Everything that is useful is good, and everything that is good is 
useful.. 



#H</^(/0aa^ 



;^^^1 



10 
URKjIIX AX" I) HISTUIJY OF AKBUK UAY. 

The first to call attention in this eonntrv. in an impressive way, 
to the value and ahselute need ol' treTs was the eminent scholar and 
wise ohserver, Mr. George P. Marsh, for many years our worthy repre- 
sentative at the courts ot Italy and Turkey. His residence in those 
older countries was calculated to draw his attention to the suhject as- 
it would not have been drawn had he always livfd in his native hiud. 

In Europe Mr. Marsh found the governments of Italy and tier- 
many, as well as those of other countries, making aitive endeavors^ 
and at great expense to rehabilitate tlieir forests, which had been de- 
pleted centuries before, to guard them from depredation, and instead 
of leaving them to be consumed at the bidding of personal greed or 
recklessness, cherishing them as among tlieir most precious posses- 
sions . . . He found schools, of a grade corresponding to our 
colleges, established for the special purpose of training men for the 
successful planting and cultivation of forests. He found the growth 
of trees in masses and their maintenance reduced to a science, and 
the management of the woodlands constituting one of the most im- 
portant departments of state. 

Such discoveries were well calculated to fix his attention tipon the 
very different condition of the forests in his own country, and to con- 
vince him that the reckless destruction of them then going on here, 
if not checked, would bring upon this land the same calamities which 
had befallen countries of the Old World in ]iast centuries and from 
which only the most enlightened nations of Europe are now recover- 
ing, through the ardous efforts ol many decades, and at great peett- 
niary cost. The result of ^Mr. ^Marsh's observations was the publi- 
cation of a volume entitled "The ]']ai-th and ^lan," and to the ad- 
mirable chapter on "The Woods," more than to any other source, 
perhaps we are indebted for the awakening of attention here to our 
destructive treatment of the forests, and the necessity of adopting 
a different course if we would avert most serious consequences, threat- 
ening more than anything else, possibly, our material welfare. 

. . . For the purpose of securing a sujijily of timber for naval 
construction the government, at the beginning of the last century, 
purchased certain tracts of live-oak timber, and al)out twenty-five 
years later, by an act of Congress, the Presidciit was authorized to 
take measures for their preservation. About the same time the Massa- 
chusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture offered prizes for forest 
planting, and thirty yoar< later the State ordered a survey of her 
tindier lands. Thirty years hiter still, acts began to be passed for 



n 

the encouragement of timber planting, chiefly in the treeless western 
states. The well-known timber culture act was one of these. It 
made a free gift of the public lands to the successful planter of for- 
est trees on one fourth of his entry. 

About tAventy-five years ago the subject of forest destruction and 
its detrimental results came before the American Association for the 
Advancement of Science for consideration, and as a result of its dis- 
cussions the association memoralized Congress, asking that measures 
be taken for the protection of the public timber lands. In conse- 
quence of this, a committee of the House of Representatives was ap- 
pointed to consider the establishment of a forestry department of the 
government, and two years later the Commissioner of Agriculture 
was authorized to appoint a forest commissioner, which was the foun- 
dation of the present Forestry Division in the Department of Agri- 
culture. 

It was at this time, or a few years earlier, that a practical move- 
ment was inaugurated by Hon. J. Sterling Morton, Secretary of 
Agriculture under President Cleveland. This was the establishment 
of American Arbor Day, or tree-planting day. 

It was at annual meeting of the Nebraska State Board of Agri- 
culture, held in the City of Lincoln, January 4, 1873, that ]\Ir. Mor- 
ton introduced the following resolution : 

Resolved, That Wednesday, the 10th day of April, 18T2, be and 
the same is hereby especially set apart and consecrated for tree plant- 
ing in the State of Nebraska, and the State Board of Agriculture 
hereby name it Arbor Day, and to urge upon the people of the State 
the vital importance of tree planting, hereby oifer a special premium 
of one hundred dollars to the Agricultural Society of that county in 
Nebraska which shall, upon that day, plant properly the largest num- 
ber of trees; and a farm library of twenty-five dollars' worth of 
books to that person who, on that day, shall plant properly, in Ne- 
braska, the greatest number of trees. 

After a little debate as to the name, some prefering Sylvan instead 
of Arbor, the resolution was unanimously adopted. A second reso- 
lution was likewise adopted asking the newspapers of the state to 
keep the matter constantly before the people until the appointed day ; 
and the result was the planting of over a million trees in Nebraska 
on April 10, 1872. 

From this beginning on that western prairie the movement has 
spread in an ever widening circle whose circumference today sweeps 
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, while all appreciate the poet's 
thought: '"'He who plants a tree plants a hope'-. 



\2 




TO THE DANDELION. 



Dear common flower, that grow'st beside the way, 

Fringing the dusty road with harmless gold, 
First pledge of blithesome May, 

Which children pluck, and, full of pride uphold. 
High-hearted buccaneers, o'erjoyed that they 

An Eldorado in the grass have found, 
"Which not the rich earth's ample round 

May match in wealth, thou are more dear to me 
Than all the prouder summer blooms may be. 

— James Russell Lowell. 



13 

ARBOR DAY SONG. 
(Air: Hold Ihe Fort.) 

Friends and parents gather witli us, 

In our school today, 
Thoughts of groves and tangled wildwoods. 

In our minds hold sway. 



Spare the trees, oh thoughtless woodman, 

Hew but what you need. 
They give balm te vagrant breezes, 

For their lives we plead. 

Giant oaks in sunny pastures 

Cast their pleasant shade 
Maples clad in gold and crimson 

Cheer the darkened glade. 

Lofty firs and murmuring pine trees 

Shading mountain's crest. 
Are the gi'owth of weary ages; 

For them we protest. 

Heralded in leafy banners, 
Season's four we greet; 
Every bough a sacred temple 
For the song birds sweet. 



— loiva Special Days, 



RECITATION. 

Do you know the trees by name 

When you see them growing 
In the fields or in the woods? 

They are well worth knowing. 

Watch them in the early spring, 

When their buds are swelling; 
Watch each tiny little leaf 

Leave its little dwelling. 

Watch them later, when their leaves 

Everywhere are showing; 
Soon you'll know the different trees 

When you see them growing. 

— Selected. 



u 

WHAT THE TREES TEACH US: 

First Pupil. 

I am taught by the Oak to be rugged and strong 
In d'Sfense of the right; in defiance of wrong. 

Second Pupil. 

I have learned from the Maple, that beauty to win 
The love of all hearts, must have sweetness within. 

Third Pupil. 

The Beech, with lis branches wide-spreading and low, 
Awakes in my heart hospitality's glow. 

Fourth Pupil. 

The Pine tells of constancy. In its sweet voice 
It whispers of hope till sad mortals rejoice. 

Fifth Pupil. 

The nut-bearing trees teach us that 'neath manners gruff 
May be found as "sweet kernels" as in their caskets rough. 

Sixth Pupil. 

The Birch, in its wrapings of silvery gray, 

Shows that beauty needs not to make gorgeous display. 

Seventh Pupil. 

The Ash, having fibers tenacious and strong. 
Teaches me firm resistance, to battle with wrong. 

Eighth Pupil. 

The Aspen tells me with its quivering leaves, 
To be gentle to every sad creature that grieves. 

Xiuth Pupil. 

The Lombardy Poplars point upward, in praise, 
My voice to kind Heaven they teach me to raise. 

Tenth Pupil. 

The Elm teaches me to be pliant yet true; 
Though bowed by rude winds, it still rises anew. 



15 

Eleventh Pupil. 

I am taught generosity, boundless and free. 

By the showers ot fruit from the dear Apple tree. 

Ticelfth Pupil. 

The Cherry tree blushing with fruit crimson red, 
Tells of God's free abundance that all may be fed. 

Thirteenth Pupil. 

In the beautiful Linden, so fair to the sight, 
This truth I discern: It is inwardly white. 

Fourteenth Pupil. 

The firm-rooted Cedars like sentries of old. 
Show that virtues deep-rooted may also be bold. 

— Helen 0. Hoyt, in the Teacher's World 



TREES IX THE SEASONS. 
First Child. 

I love a tree in spring 

When the firsi green leaves come out; 
And the birds build their nests and carol 

Their sweet songs round about. 

Second Child. 

I love a tree in summer. 

When in the neon-tide heat. 
The reapers lie in its shadow 

On the greensward, cool and sweet. 

Third Child. 

I love a tree in autumn. 

When Frost, the painter old. 
Has touched with his brush its branches, 

And left them all crimson and gold. 

Fourth Child. 

I love a tree in winter, 

Mid snow and ice and cloud, 

Waving its long, bare branches. 
In the north wind, wailing loud. 



16 

AIL 

Let us plant a tree by the wayside, 
Plant it with smiles and with tears, 

A shade lor some weary wanderer, 
A hope for the coming years. 

THE COMIXG OF SPIUXG. 



The birds are coming home soon; 

I look for them every day; 
I listen to catch the first wild strain. 

For they must be singing by May. 

The bluebird, he'll come first you know. 

Like a violet that has taken wings; 
And the redbreast trills while his nest he builds, 

I can hum the song that he sings. 

And the crocus and the wind-flower are coming, too; 

They're already upon the way; 
When the sun warms the brown earth through and through, 

I shall look for them any day. 

Then be patient, and wait a little, my dear; 

"They're coming" the winds repeat; 
"We're coming! we're coming!" I'm sure I hear. 

From the grass blades that grow at my feet. 

— Selected from "Xatare in Verse. 



OX GRAXDPA'S FARM. 



Miss Dolly went a walking 

Out in a lovely park. 
Beside her ran a striped squirrel, 

Above it sang a lark. 

She stood knee deep in clover 

And watched the light clouds pass. 

And no policeman shouted out., 
"Hi, there! Keep off the grass!" 

She gathered rosy apples. 
Beneath the spreading trees. 

And no old apple woman said, 
"A nickel, if you please." 




SCARLET TANAGER 

1. Adult Male. 2. Adult Male, Changing to Winter Plumage. 3. Adult Female. 

Order — Passeres Family — Tanagrid/E 

Genus — Piranga Species — Erythromelas 



^TESY OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF AUDUBON SOCIETIES, NEW 




Bethel Township (Miami County, Ohio) High School Building erected in 

3893. Four years in course. 1000 volumes in library. Farmers' 

Institutes and Lecture Courses. First Grade. Stables 

and large well planted playground. Telephone, 

Gasoline lighting system, Piano and 

well selected Pictures. 

Courtesy Prof. A. B. Graham, Ohio State University. 




A Floweb Show by Pupils in a School in Pecatonica Township, Illinois. 
Courtesy Supt. O. J. Kern, Rockford, Ills. 



17 

She plucked the dainty violets 

That all around her grew, 
And no boy flower peddler cried, 
"I'll take ten cents from you!" 

How is it she's so favored? 

Who knows where lies the charm? 
The secret's here, my little dear- — 

She's out on grandpa's farm. 

Elizabeth Hyatt, in Detroit Free Press. 



THE ROBIN AND THE FLOWER. 



A Robin once sat in the bright winter's sun, 

A foolish red robin was he. 
For he sang a sweet song that springtime had come 

When the day was as cold as could be. 

So gay was his song of the warmth of the hour, 

So merrily babbled the sound. 
That it stole through the dream of a dear little flower 

Who was slumbering under the ground. 

The sleeper awakened, soft lifted the sod 

And barkened the robin's sweet song, 
Full glad was her heart and thankful to God 

That winter so quickly had gone. 

The robin still sang and the dear little flower 

Unfolded her petals of pink: — 
"I'll hold up my chalice," she said, "for a shower 

That from me my robin may drink." 

The singer flew quickly to welcome his love, — 

His love that was faltering low: — 
Oh, where was the warmth from the heaven above? 
Instead of a shower there was snow. 

Then robin quick covered her o'er with his wing, 

"Don't leave me, I love you," he cried: 
And he kissed her so tenderly, poor little thing, 

But the blossom, his loved one, had died. 

Red robin still sits in the bright winter's sun. 

But a sorrowing robin is he; 
No longer he sings that the springtime has come 

When t'he day is as cold as can bv.. 

— Charles A. Myall. 



18 



Now lings the woodland loud and long. 

The distance takes a lovelier hue. 

And drowned in yonder living blue 
The lark becomes a sightless song. 

— Tennyson — In Memoriam. 

Welcome, ye shades! ye bowery Thickets hail! 
Ye lofty Pines! ye venerable Oaks! 
Ye Ashes wild, resounding o'er the steep! 
Delicious is your shelter to the soul. 

— Thompson — Seasons. Summer. 

The year's at the spring, 
And day's at the morn; 
Morning's at seven: 
The hill-sides dew pearled: 
The larks on the wing: 
The snails on the thorn; 
God's in his heaven — • 
All's right with the world! 

— ji roioning . 

In fact there is nothing that keeps its youth 
So far as I know, but a tree and truth. 

— O. W. Holmes. 

There's never a leaf or blade too mean 
To be some creature's palace. 

— Lowell. 

Give fools their gold and knaves their power; 

Let fortune's bubbles rise and fall; 
Who sows a field or trains a flower. 

Or plants a tree, is more than all. 

— Whitticr. 



Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made and forgot to put a soul 
into. 

— Beecher. 

The best verses I have printed are the trees I have ])lanted. 

— Holmes. 



There was never mystery 

But 'tis figured in the flowers; 
M^as never secret history 

But birds tell it in the bowers. 

— Emerson. 



19 



QUOTATIOXS FOE EOLL CALL. 

I think no man does anything more visihlv nseful to posterity than 
he who plants a tree. — J. E. Lowell. 

When we plant a tree we are doing what we can to make our planet 
a more wholesome and happier dwelling place for those who come 
after iis if not ourselves. — 0. If. Holmes. 

In those vernal seasons of the year, when the air is calm and pleas- 
ant, it were an injury and sullenness against nature not to go out 
and see her riches, and partake in her rejoicing with heaven and 
earth, — Milton. 

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must 
carry it with us or we find it not. — Emerson. . 

Now every field and every tree is in bloom ; the woods are now in 
full leaf, and the year is in its highest beauty. — Vbujil. 

The tree planter and teacher united in one shall be declared the 
best benefactor of modern times — the chief provider for posterity. — 
J. Sterling Morton. 

Our yards, our school house yards, and the resting places of our 
dead, should not be neglected, but should be adorned with nature's 
own beauties — the trees. — Emma F. Bates. 

Do not rob or mar a tree, unless you really need what it has to 
give you. Let it stand and grow in virgin majesty, ungirdled tind 
unscarred, while the trunk becomes a firm pillar of the forest temple, 
and^the branches spread abroad a refuge of bright green leaves for 
the birds of the air. — Dr. Henry Van Dyl-e. 

The man who builds does a work which begins to decay as soon 
as he is done, but the work of the man who plants trees grows better 
and better, year after year, for generations. 

To own a bit of ground, to scratch it with a hoe, to plant seeds and 
Avatch their renewal of life — this is the commonest delight of the race, 
the most satisfactory thing one can do. — Charles Dudley Warner. 

Thez-e is no spot on earth which may not be made more Ijeautiful 
by the help of trees and flowers. — Holmes. 

Whether pluming the mountains, edging the lake, eye-lashing the 
stream, roofing the water-fall, sprinkling the meadow, burying the 
homestead, or darkening leagues of hill, plain and valley, trees have 
always ''haunted me like a passion." — Alfred B. Street. 

What earnest worker, with hand and brain, for the benefit of his 
fellowmen, could desire a more pleasing recognition of his usefulness 



20 

than ilio iiionunient of a tree, ever growing, ever blooming, and ever 
bearing wholesome fruit? — Irving. 

With every green tree that surrounds us with its leafage, with every 
shrub on the roadside where we walk, with every grass-blade that 
bends to the breeze in the field through which we pass, we have a 
natural relationship; they are our true compatriots. The birds that 
leap from twig to twig in our gardens, that sing in bowers, are part 
of ourselves. — Goethe. 

A man does not plant a tree for himself; he plants it for posterity; 
and sitting idly in the sunshine, I think at times of the unborn peo- 
ple who will to some extent be indebted to me. Eemember me kindly, 
ye future men and women. — Alexander Smith. 

What conqueror in any part of life's battle could desire a more 
beautiful, a more noble, or more patriotic monument than a tree 
planted by tlie hands of pure and joyous children, as a memorial 
to his achievements ? — B. J. Lossing. 

For many years I have felt a deep interest in the preservation of 
our forests and the planting of trees. The wealth, beauty, fertility 
and healthfulness of the country largely depend upon it. My indig- 
nation is yearly aroused by the needless sacrifice of some noble oak 
or elm and especially of the white pine, the grandest tree in our wood'^, 
which I would not exchange for the oriental palm. My thanks are 
due to the public school wliich is to ])lant a group of trees in your 
Eden Park in my honor. — JoJtn G. Whifticr. to the scJtool chiidvcn 

of CIliriiilKlli, 

To avert treelessuess ; to improve tlie climatic conditions; for the 
sanitation and embellishment of home environments; for the love of 
the beautiful and useful combined in the music and majesty of a 
tree, as fancy and truth unite in an epic ])oem. Arbor Day was 
created. It has grown with the vigor and beneficence of a grand 
truth, or a great tree. — J. Sterling yiarton. 

NOTES AXD SUGGESTIONS. 

On what day did you hear the first Blue Bird, the first Bobin, 
the first l?ed Wing? 

Wliat was the circumference of the largest strawberry you ever 
raised ? 

Do not fail to jdant something on Arbor Dav. If it is but a rose 



21 

biisli, a. grape vine or row of sweet peas, contribute this nuieh in 
honor of the occasi-on. Your reward will come later. 

Teachers desiring to secure pictures of larger size and suited for 
framing, will do well to write to Curtis & Cameron, Boston, for a 
catalog of the Copley Prints. 

]\rarket gardening has become a very fruitful source of income to 
many of our farmers in different sections of the state. The mining 
and manufacturing centers are good markets right near home and 
the wide-awake producer will take advantage of the opportunity thus 
offered. 




Do you believe in "strawberries and cream" materially, socially, 
morally and educationally for the youth of this state? In this refer- 
ence, "■strawberries and cream" means the best things in life. Do you 
not desire that your children shall enjoy them? 

I believe all our readers will be pleased with the beautiful colored 
plates found in the Annual. They are in the highest style of repro- 
duction of this character and, I believe, worthy a place in Itook col- 
lections and on school room walls. 



Teachers and others desiring to get a variety of flower seeds this 



22 

spring, would do well to address tlic Flower Mission, Cleveland, Ohio, 
which will also furnish an illustrated ])ain])hlet giving detailed in- 
structions on children's school and home gardens. 

If yon can get your hoys and girls interested in hii'd study, it is an 
excellent plan for them to keep a hird calendar in which they shall 
record the spring arrival of their feathered friends and make note 
of other interesting observations. 

For the use of the cuts fouiu] in the Annual, we are indebted to the 
courtesy of a number of prominent publishing houses to whom Ave 
have given credit. I am sure our readers will appreciate these nice 
pictures and want to know more al)out the hooks from which they 
come. 

As will be noticed, I have printed in the Annual information re- 
lating to the organization of Audubon Socities. I hope teachers all 
over the state will take up this good work and that West Virginia 
may not be reckoned any longer as ""unorganized"" in Ibis splendid 
work for the preservation of the birds. 

Why do we not have more fruits around many of our country 
ItOiues? Trees and shrubs cost l)ut little and by ibe budding and 
graftii!g ])rocess any thrifty grower can add very materially to his 
stock of home supplies. 

Too little attention is given both by teachers and school officers to 
the out-buildings about our school houses. As I have said more than 
once before, these buildings in many places are a disgrace to a civil- 
ized people. Shall we not have an awakening on this subject? 

As a very excellent means of decorating school rooms, there is 
nothing more appropriate than the Perry Pictures. The five and ten 
cent pictures of this class are very well suited for school room adorn- 
ment. 

Planting should not ])e confined to shade trees and shrubbery, but 
fruit trees as well inay be put out on Arbor Day. A Yellow Trans- 
parent, a Baldwin, an Alexander Peach or a Bartlett Pear will in 
years to come not only be a reminder of a pleasant occasion, but the 
fruit will l)e a means of gratification as well as profit. 



23 

By the recent action of the LegisUiture, elementary Agriculture is 
now one of the branches to be taught in our public schools, and while 
teachers are not now required to pass an examination on this sub- 
ject, it is very natural to conclude that a few years hence this subject 
will be included in the list of branches upon which applicants for 
certificates will have to pass. 

With the trolley line extending in all directions, the telephone in 
many homes, and rural mail delivery, life in the country will soon be 
relieved of some of its less inviting features. Then with better roads, 
we shall have consolidation of schools which school will soon become 
the center of the social and intellectual life for the conmiunity. 

Every school in the state should receive a copy of a good illustrated 
magazine emphasizing life in the country. For this purpose I caji 
think of nothing better than "Country Life in America" published 
by Doubleday, Page & Co., Xew York City, and "Suburban Life'". 
published at Harrisburg, Pa. 

Too many farmers leave the hard work of the gardens to their 
wives and children, failing to realize what an important source of 
supply a good garden is. Wide awake farmers, however, will not fail 
to give attention to a part of the home surroundings which not only 
add beauty and comfort, but furnish a supply of table provisions 
fresh and ready at hand. 

Xot long since at a fruit stand, we saw on the same table among 
other things, apples and oranges. Two qualities of each were of- 
fered for sale, oranges two for five cents and three for ten cents, 
while one grade of apples sold at five cents apiece and the others, 
which were splendid Eoman Beauties, ten cents each or three for 
twenty-five cents. There is certainl}' money in apple-growing-. 

Teachers who are interested in x4griculture. Forestry, Horticul- 
ture and Good Eoads should write to the Department of Agriculture, 
Washington, D. C, for bulletins treating on these subjects. Many 
of these bulletins are sent free; others can be secured by the pay- 
ment of a few cents. All are interesting and they will furnish a 
large amount of valuable information.. 

It is hoped that our schools will join hands in different cities and 
to^\Tis of the state with the Civio Improvement clubs in an effort to bring 



24 

about better sanitary conditions in homes, on the streets and in pub- 
lic, places. The women's clubs in some of our cities have provided 
wire baskets as recepticals for litter of all kinds. Pupils in the 
schools should be taught to use these baskets and not to throw any 
paper, orange rind or banana peel on the streets at any time. 

If the observance of Arbor Day does not lead to a cleaning up of 
the home grounds generally, the front yard and the garden especially, 
Ave shall feel that the spirit of tlio day has not been caught by that 
home. Not only should we plant, but we should trim and cut away 
as well. A garden full of weeds or a front yard grown into a thick- 
et are almost as extreme as the yard or garden without any shrubbery 
or trees. 

Preparation for tree-planting should be made before Arbor Day. 
The trees should be selected and the holes made ready so the work may 
"he readily performed when the ceremonies take place with the 
school gathered about. It is not necessary to depend upon the nur- 
sery for nice shade trees. Our native maples and elms can be found 
almost anywhere in the woods and can be transplanted with entire 
safety if ordinary care is exercised. 

Apple growing in West Virginia is becoming an industry of no suuill 
proportions. Thousands of acres are now devoted to the growth of 
this fine fruit and the car-loads of splendid Grimes Golden, Baldwins', 
Russets, Yorks and other varieties, are a source of income in many 
sections of the state that add very materially to the prosperity of the 
people. But there is room for the expansion of this industry, and 
doubtless there are young men and women in our schools todav who 
will be led into this pleasant and profitable vocation. 

A very encouraging feature of our educational progress is the in- 
terest manifested throughout the state in school libraries. The num- 
ber of books in these libraries is now well up to two hundred thous- 
and and a large proportion of these books are found in the small 
country school house where heretofore there has been little literature 
of this kind. The State Superintendent is glad to have contributed 
to this movement in a humble way through the library programs 
sent out from time to time and in suggesting books appropriate and 
desirable for the various gradesl 





Front and Rear View of the Primary Room of th0 Public School at 

West Liberty, Ohio County. 

Miss Maud 0. Curtis, Teacher. 



25 

It would be well if all school buildings were not more than two 
stories in height, the anditorium on the first floor, and never above 
the second, and the heating plant entirely outside the main building. 
The most complete buildings in the State in this respect are the 
Normal School building at Shepherdstown, and that of the Keyser 
Preparatory School. In both cases the heating plant is in a separate 
house at considerable distance away, — that at Keyser being over one 
hundred and fifty feet, thus reducing the danger from fire to a min- 
imum. 

While the Ehododendron is found in our higher altitudes and in 
our mountain sections, it is possible to grow it in some of our low- 
lands. By careful transplanting, with a good deal of root nour- 
ishment and wood soil, it will grow in yards and gardens. I know 
of a number which bloomed about homes in West Virginia last 
year and attracted a great deal of attention. In addition to the wild 
varieties of Ehododendron, many nurseries have supplies of four 
or five different colors which have been hybridized and acclimated. 
These make a fine showing when grouped in masses as they are 
about the State Capitol here at Charleston. 

On the back cover of the Annual will be found a cut of our new 
State Flag, By reference to the description of said Flag found in 
the Joint Eesolution authorizing the same, which is herein given, 
our readers may get some idea of the appearance of the Flag. The 
center is white with a blue band, fringed with old gold. The group- 
ing of the Ehododendron in the center is a beautiful piece of hand- 
painting in oil. Thus far only two of these Flags have been made, 
one for the Department of Archives and History, and one for the 
Department of Schools. These were both shown at the Jamestown 
Exposition, being first unfurled there on West "Slrginia Day, July 
2nd, 1907. 

While in many of our schools it can not be expected that much 
can be done in the way of starting School Gardens, nevertheless, there 
are many places in the state that could introduce this very excellent 
feature in a successful manner. In fact, it has already been done 
and the results are surprising. It may be, however, that the teacher 
can secure a little plot of ground that is enclosed and make a be- 
ginning this year, but above all. children should be encouraged to 
plant in their home grounds and to learn how to cultivate tlie diff'er- 



20 

cnt I'oriii.s of vegetation. If the teacher could distribute tlower seeds 
among her pupils and tell them how to plant them and care for the 
flowers, she would be doing a good service. Sometimes business men 
will supplv seeds to the school and. no doubt, prgressive teachers 
will iiiid a way, having the will to make a beginning" in this direction. 

Good roads will make better schools, therefore, we are in most 
liearty sympathy with every effort put forth by Mr. ]Ioward E. Wil- 
liams, State Highway Ins])ector, who occupies the place recently pro- 
vided for by legislative action. jVIr. Williams is thoroughly interested 
in this work and will arouse the people to see the necessity of better 
highway-. By furnishing better means of communication, good roads 
will add to the selling price of farm products and in every way will 
contribute to the comfort and happiness of the people. Then, fur- 
thermore, we can have a good system of consolidated schools only 
where we have good roads. I am glad to publish in the Annual Mr. 
Williams' excellent article, prepared at my request, on "The Problem 
of the Koads.'" It is well worth reading and considering, both from 
the standpoint of our material as well as our educational progress. 

Some of our readers may be amused at and even criticize some of 
the suggestions contained in the Annual, but we think there is such 
an intimate connection between the vocational life of the child and the 
instruction in the school room, that it is not at all out of place that 
we emphasize the subjects of good roads, fruit growing, poultry 
raising, good gardens, nice home grounds, clean streets and all those 
conditions that indicate a thrifty and prosperous people. 

It is hoped thai some manufacturing establishment may be able 
to get up a good printed bunting State flag that may be sold at a 
reasonable price to our schools. This Department has had numer- 
(ais calls for the State Flag but thus far has not been able to give 
any delinite information as to how it may be secured. However, any 
l)erson can make the flag from the illustrations and description 
given in the Annual, and we shall hope to see it in evidence on our 
natal day. June 2(Hh. 

Thirty-seven yeai-s ago this spring, the writer was going home from 
school one evening and in ])assing by a house near the road, he ob- 
served some grape canes that had been cut from the vines that day 
and thrown over the fence. I'icking up a few of them, they were 
taken to his boarding house and that night stuck down in the ground 
in the edge of the garden in good rich soil. Todav one of these grape 



27 



vines near the root is nearly as large as a man's arm, and it is not 
an over-estimate to say that it has borne at least a ton of fruit of 
a most excellent quality. Every time he sees it, the writer recalls 
with pleasure his boyhood experience in carrying out a suggestion 
he had read only a short time before in the Xew York Tribune. With 
grape vines so cheap at our nurseries today, there need not be so 
much delay in bringing into bearing this splendid fruit. There are 
thousands of our hillsides that would grow grapes of most excellent 
quality and the wonder is that our peo])le do not give more attention 
to this industry. 

The pupils in our schools will doubtless appreciate the very pretty 
colored plates contained in the x\nnual, also the nice half-tones il- 
lustrative of improved school grounds, nice home surroundings, fruit 
growing, bird life, etc. To the respective publishing houses who have 
kindly allowed these cuts to be used, I am under especial obligation. 
Their courtesy is very much appreciated and I })elieve will aid in 
furthering the cause which their publications so faithfully present. 

T am very much pleased to present a cut C'f the oriirinal Grimes 
(^lolden api)le tree, Avhose fruit is now so well known tliroughout the 







The Brown Tiikasher. 
XTnited States and even beyond the sea. Three or four states have 
claimed the origin of this tree, but it has been established beyond 
doubt that the original tree was on the farm of Thomas Grimes in 
Brooke County, about three miles east of Wellsburg. There are sev- 



28 

era! persons now living wlio when children visited the tree, and be- 
fore it was entirely decayed the photograph was taken fioni which 
the cut found in this publication was made. An enlarged picture 
of the tree was a prominent feature in our fruit exhibit at the James- 
town Exposition and of course it attracted a great deal of attention. 

For years we have thought that West A'irginia should have a For- 
estry agent who could at least suggest wluit might be done towards 
preserving our magnihcient wooded areas in many sections of the state. 
We believe the next Legislature will be led to consider this matter 
favorably, but to arouse public sentiment, we are very glad that the 
West Virginia Forestry Association has been organized. As will be 
seen in the circular printed in this program, such an organization 
Avas ell'ected at Morgantown in January. It is believed that this work 
will grow and that our people will realize that something must be 
done to prevent the entire destruction of many of our fine mountain 
forests. Of course it is natural that the woodman's ax shall make 
inroads among our fine timber, but the carelessness permitted in the 
destruction of the smaller trees and undergrowth, accom]:)anied by 
forest fires are conditions that should be met in some way by legal 
restrictions. England and Germany have a PA^stematic plan for the 
removal of timber, and the fine areas that have been re-forested 
there within the last hundred years are evidence of wliat can be done 
under proper regulations. Let us have a Forestry 'Commission in 
West Virginia Avitb an agent who has autliority to act. 

TEEE PLAXTIXG. 

THE C]]OICE OF TREES. 

1. General Considerations. — Trees for school grcniuds and yards, 
along roadsides and streets, must be such as are least ]ia1)le to suffer 
from injuries; they should be compact and symmetrical in shape, 
free from objectionable habits, such as bad odors, root-sprouting, fre- 
quent dropping of parts, etc., and from insect pests, and. if planted 
for shade, should have a broad crown and a dense foliage, budding 
oarly in the spring and retaining leaves long into the fall. 

Trees native to the region in which the planting is done usmilly 
liave more promise of success and are generally less costly than ex- 
otics. Trees from well managed nurseries are preferable to those 
grown in the forest, because their root-system is better prepared for 
trMn>|)liinling. Rapidly growing trees, although giving shade soon- 
est, are mostly short-lived and hccomo the soonest nnsio-htlv. 



29 

2. Size. — Although as a rule small plants have a hetter promise 
of success, other considerations recommend the choice of larger sizes 
for roadside and ornamental planting. Trees of any size can be 
successfully transplanted, but in proportion to the size grows the 
difficulty, the amount of work, and the care necessary. As a rule 
the largest size should not exceed 2 to 3 inches in diameter at the 
base and 10 to 15 feet in height. Those one half that size will prob- 
ably make better growth, because less of their root-system will be 
curtailed in taking them up for transplanting. 

3. Diagnosis of a tree suitable for transplanting : — a. An abund- 
ance of fibrous roots. 

b. A normal form and well proportioned development of shaft 
and crown. 

c. The position from which the tree came has some influence 
on its further development. Trees from the forest have generally 
a wide spreading root system, which is difficult to take up and tran- 
plant. Those which have grown in the shade of the forest as a rule 
do not start easily in the open sunlight; those from cool north sides 
are apt to sicken when placed on hot exposures, and vice versa. A 
healthy tree from poor soil transferred into better conditions will 
show itself grateful by vigorous development. — *Arhor Dag Planting 
in Eastern States. 

HOW TO PLAXT THEM. 

Few people know how to plant a tree. Transplanting is an arti- 
ficial process, requiring both knowledge and care. . If there is a skill- 
ed tree planter in the neighborhood, interest him in Arbor Day, take 
his advice about the better trees to plant first and their location, and 
get him to see that roots and branches are properly pruned, that the 
holes are of proper size and depth, that the soil is filled in around the 
roots as it should be, and that the tree is properly protected. If he 
will let the older pupils assist him in doing the actual work, and after- 
ward talk to them in a simple, direct way about the care of the trees, 
so much the better. Be sure to give him the o])portunity. — Alfred 
Bayliss, in Illinois Arbor Day Circular, 1899. 

SPECIAL RULES. 

The time for transplanting trees varies with the locality and the 
season. Trees should be moved before they have budded and blossom- 
ed, for after the leaves have opened they cannot obtain sufficient 
nourishment from the newly planted roots, and after sapping the life 
from the tree, wither and die. 

* Circular N"o. 5, Forestry Division, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



30 

Copies of this circular in limited imiiihers may lie had by application 
to the Department of Agriculture, Washington. 

PLANTING SUGGESTIONS 

By Gifford Pinchot, U. S. Forester, Wasliington, D. C. 

The proper season for planting is not everywhere the same. Where 
spring is the best season — north of the thirty-seventh parallel general- 
\\ — the right time is when ti.e frost is out of the ground and before 
budding begins. 

The day to plant is almost as important as the season. Sunny, 
windy weather is to be avoided ; cool, damp days are the best. For 
this reason it is Avell to leave the date for Arbor Day unfixed. All 
exercises are better deferred until the planting is done. 

Trees can not be thrust into a rough soil at random and then be 
expected to flourish. They should be planted in well-worked soil, 
well enriched. If the trees can not be set out immediately after 
being secured, the first step is to prevent thiir roots drying out in 
the air. This may be done by standing the roots in a "puddle" of 
mud or ''heeling-in" the trees by burying the roots deep in fresh 
earth. 

m planting they should be placed from two to three inches deeper 
than they stood originally. Fine soil should always be pressed firm- 
ly — not made hard — about tlie roots, and two inches of soil at the 
top should be left very loose, to act as a mulch to retain the moisture. 

Small seedlings may be secured easily and cheaply. If these are 
set out in good numbers after the pattern of a commercial plantation 
they will become in due time a true forest on a small scale. No mat- 
ter how few the trees, they may be made to illustrate planting for 
come useful pitrpose. 

The scope of planting may sometimes be broadened by securing 
permission for the children to plant a small block of trees in some 
field unsuited for crops, and in tliis way the work can be done just 
as it would be done on a larger scale by the forester. 

Outside the scope of the actual ])lanting, it is well to b(\ir in mind 
that Arbor Day is not the only day in the year on which trees de- 
serve to be remembered and cared for. They need care throughout 
the season. Watching the plantation thrive under right treatment 
greatly adds to the educational value of the work, and io its suc- 
cess, Avhich should be its best lesson. 

It is all iin])ortant that the ])lanlatioii should serve as a model of 
what can be accoMiplished along these lines. Then. wh(>n the child- 



31- 

ren are grown men and women, they will find great satisfaction in 
the M'ork of their school days. 

PLANT FEUIT TREES. 

In many European countries it has been the custom for centuries 
to plant a choice nut tree in commemoration of the birth of a child, 
and often this is repeated on each succeeding birthday. The results 
of such a practice are partly seen in the millions of bushels of these 
nuts produced in those countries for home use and export. This coun- 
try alone imports annually over twenty millions of pounds of these 
foreign growing nuts. With these facts staring us in the face, we may 
well ask, why should our roadsides be encumbered and shaded with 
trees yielding nothing in the way of food for either man or beast? 
when it would be just as feasible to plant choice nut trees, which 
would soon give their owners a crop that could be sold in the markets 
of any city or village, besides making the highways "pleasant ways" 
and especially for the small boy and his sister, who are always 
blessed with a good apj^etite, on their way home from school. 

It has been suggested, that at least one choice nut tree be planted 
on next Arbor day in the school grounds of every district in this 
state. At the same time it should be impressed upon the minds 
of the children, and every person present that these, if properly 
guarded and cared for, will i-emain living, and fruitful memorials 
of their kindness and forethought for many decades, and perhaps 
for many centuries. 

Fruit trees along the highways in Belgium made a return of two 
millions of dollars ($2,000,000) or the year 1898. 

We will try to make some small piece of ground beautiful, peace- 
ful and fruitful. We will have no untended or unthought-of crea- 
tures upon it. We will have flowers and vegetables in our gardens, 
plenty of corn and grass in our fields. We will have some music 
and poeti'y; the children shall learn to dance and sing it; perhaps 
some of the old people, in time, may also. We will have some art ; 
and little by little some higher art and imagination may manifest 
themselves among us — nay — even perhaps an unealculating and un- 
covetous wisdom, as of rude Magi, presenting gifts of gold and frank- 
incense. — Rusliin . 

FACTS ABOUT TREES FOR THE LITTLE ONES. 

(a recitation.) 
1. Cutting down trees spoils the beauty of tbc landscape. I would 
not like to live where there were no trees. 



82 

2. There are few birds Avhere tht-re are no trees. They have no 
place to make their homes. 

;3. Taking away the trees takes away the protection from our 
tender fruit trees. 

4. Where there are no trees the snows melt and go off too rapidly; 
the moisture that should sink into the soil is carried away in the 
floods. 

5. Because our forests are taken away we have severe droughts 
ever}^ year. 

G. One full grown elm tree gives out fifteen tons of moisture in 
twenty-four hours. A large sunflowei- plant gives off three pints 
of water in one day. 

7. The trees give us lumber, fuel, wood, pulp for newspapers, 
cork, bark for tanning, wild fruits, nuts, resin, turpentine oils and 
vai-ious products for medicines. 

8. We should have greater extremes of heat and cold if it were 
not for the trees and forests. 

i). The leaves of trees catch the rain and hold it a little while; 
then they drop the water a little at a time; this is better for the 
ground. 

in. The old leaves make a deep sponge carpet in the woods and 
this keeps the ground from freezing. If the earth does not freeze 
it takes up the rain better. 

11. We might have dangerous floods if we did not have trees. 
The trunks and roots of trees stop the water that comes ]iouring 
down the hillside. 

1*2. I will be very careful not io hui't any tree, but will call every 
tree my fi-iend. — rrintari/ Educd'lion. 



SPRAYIXG TREES AND PLANTS. 

Large or small, every place that attempts to grow plants should 
have a spraying outfit. For a few ])lants of small stature, a bucket- 
pumj) or a knapsack outfit is all that is necessary. For a place of 
an acre or more, or to reach the tops of trees, a strong lever-handle 
force-pump is to ])e advised. There are many good pumps. Look 
up the advertisements in the agricultural papers and send for cir- 
culars. People ask what is the l)est pump and best nozzle. There 
is no answer to this question. What is best for one may not be 
best for another. What is the best wagon? 

For fungi (plant disease) Bordeaux mixture is the standard mater- 




The Orfcixal Grimes Goeden Appee Tree. 

The Famous West Virginia Seedling Originated on tlie Farm of Tliomas 

Grimes, Broolve County. 




Spraying Fruit Trees. 
Courtesy of B. F. Johnson Publishing Co., Richmond, Va. 




BALTIMORE ORIOLE 
(Upper Figure, Male; Lower Figure, Female) 



Order— Passeres 
Cenus — Icterus 



Family — ICTERiOye 
Species — Galbula 



. ASSOCIATION OF AUDUBON SOCIETIES. NEW YORK CITY 



33 

ial to be sprayed on the plants. It is a eomponnd of bine vitriol, lime 
and water. Ask your experiment station for a bulletin giving di- 
rections for making it, and when to apply. If you are expecting 
mildew or leaf-blight, spray before the disease appears. Spray 
until the tree is covered, even if it is blue. For insects, Paris green 
and the kerosene emulsions are standard materials. Paris green or 
other arsenites are used fox all biting or chewing insects, as potato 
bugs, apple worms, caterpillars. For scale insects and aphis, spray 
with kerosene compounds. — Country Life in America. 

THE WOODS. 

The woods at first convey the impression of profound repose, and 
yet, if YOU watch their ways with open ear, you find the life which is 
in til cm is restless and nervous as that of a woman ; tlie little twigs 
are crossing and twining and separating like slender fingers that can 
not l)c still, the stray leaf is to be flattened into its place like a tru- 
ant curl: the limbs swav and twist, impatient of their constrained 
attitude; and the rounded masses of foliage swell upward and sub- 
side from time to time with long soft sighs, and, it may be, the falling 
of a few rain-drops whieli had lain hidden among the deeper shad- 
ows. — Oliver ^YendeIl Holmes. 

THE SPEING TIME. 

I love to trace the break of Spring step by step. I love even those 
long rain-storms, that sap the icy fortunes of the lingering winter, 
— that melt the snows upon the hills, and swell the mountain brooks. 

I love the gentle thaws that you can trace, day by day, by the stained 
snow-banks, shrinking from the grass ; and l)v the quiet drip of the 
cottage eaves. I love to search out the sunny slopes under some 
northern shelter when the reflected sun does double duty to the earth, 
and whcii the first Hepaticas, or the faint blush of the Arbutus, in 
the midst of the bleak March atmosphere, will touch your heart, like 
a hope of Heaven in a field of graves. Later come those soft, smoky 
days, when the patches of winter grain show green under the shelter 
of leafless woods, and llio last snow drifts reduced to shrunken skele- 
tons of ice, lie upon the slope of northern hills, leaking away their 
life. Then the grass at your door grows into the color of the sprout- 
ing grain, and the buds upon the lilacs swell and burst. The old 
elms throw down their thin dingy flowers, and color their spray with 
<'-reen : and the brooks when you throw your Avorm or the minnow 



34: 

tioai. flown whole fleets of the crimsoning blossoms of the maple. Fi- 
nally the oaks step into the opening quadrille of spring, with grayish 
tufts of a modest verdure, which by and by will be long and glossy 
Jeaves. — IJce Marvel. 
From **Dream Life." 

THE OAK 11JEE. . 

A gentleiiiaii i)n<j'', stood before an oak tree pondering deeply. Nine 
Tiiiles rioni the coast of Cornwall lay some dangerous rocks on which 
many a brave ship had been wrecked. Twice a lighthouse had been- 
erected upon them, and twice destroyed. On what })lan could he 
build a new one. which should stand firm thi-ough storm and tempest? 
The oak tree stands foi- hundreds of years: branch after l)rancii may 
be broken oif, but the trunk remains firm. Many others are torn up 
by the roots, hut never the oak. Mr. Smeaton wondered if it was 
the peculiar shape, the broad base and curving waist, that 
made this ti-ee so strong. He went away, and in 1T59 the new Eddy- 
stoiu' Lighthouse was built, broad at the base and sloping upwards 
like the trunk of the oak tree; audit stands firm to this day. — 
]\Irs. /)i/s()n. 

THE PINE TKEE. 

The tremendous unity of the pine absorbs and moulds the life of 
a race. The pine shadows rest upon a nation. The northern peoples, 
century after century, lived under one or other of the two great powers 
of the pine and the sea, both infinite. They dwelt amidst the forests 
as they wandered on the waves, and saw no end nor any other horizon. 
Still the dark, green trees, or the dark, green waters, jagged the dawn 
Avitli Ihcii' fiiiige. or their foam. And whatever elements of imagina- 
tion, or ol' warrior strength, or of domestic justice, were brought down 
by the Norwegian or the Goth, against the dissoluteness or degrada- 
tion of the south of Europe, were taught them under the green roofs 
and wild ])enetralia of the pine. — John Iinshin. 

€OMMON NAMES OF TREES FOUND IN WEST VIRGINIA.' 

("onipiled from reports on the forests of North America by Charles 
S. Sargent, special agent of tenth census. 

Cucumber tree, Tulip, or Yellow Poplar, Linden, Basswood, or Lime 
tree, Whitewood, Prickly Ash, Sweet Ash, Broad-leaved Maple, Striped 
]\rai)le. Sugar Maple, Black Sugar Maple. Soft, or Silver Maple, Red or 



Swamp ^lapie; Box Al<kn- or Ash-leavet[ jMaijIe, JJIaek Loeustj Houey 
Locust, Red ]>U(1 or Judas tree. Wild Black Clierrv, .Sweet-scented 
Cral). Black Thorn, June Berry or Service ti'ee. Sweet or Eed Gum, 
Black or Sour Gum, Akier, Persinnnon, Bed Ash, Green Ash, Blue 
Ash, Bktck Ash, Sassafras, Bock Elm, Sycamore, Butternut or White 
Walnut, 'olack \\'alnut. I'ccaii Hickory. Shell FJark ilickoi'y. Bi.u' Shell 
Bark Hickory, Mocker Xut, Black Hickory. I'iiiiiut. I?iitti'rnut. Bed 
or Black Oak, Scarlet Oak. Fish Oak, Beech. Iroiiwdod. I-ii-ch. Willow, 
Saud Bai- Willow. Aspen or (^)uakiii<;- Ash. Boiilai-. Ili\cr Cottonwood, 
Balsam. Babn of Gilead, U'hite or I'osi Cedar, .\rlior \ ita'. K'ed Cedar, 
\\'hitc I'ine. Black Spruci-. 

STATE TBOWEL'S. 

Alaliama (iolden liod. 

Arkansas Apple Blossom. 

California Eschscholzia. 

Colorado Columbine. 

Delaware Peach Blossom. 

Illinois Eose. 

Indiana Corn. 

Iowa Wild Eose. 

Kansas Sunflower. 

Kentuc-ky Golden Eod. 

Louisi'ana ]\raL;nolia. 

]\raryland (Toldcn Eod. 

Michig-an \])p]c Blossom. 

]\f ississippi Maonolia. 

Minnesota Moccasin. 

Missiniri (k)lden Eod. 

Xchi'a^ka (lolden Eod. 

Xew York Ro^e. 

Xorth Dakota Wild Eose. 

Ohio Scarlet Carnation. 

Ore.a'on * Oregon Grape. 

Pennsylvania Golden Eod. 

Ehodo Island Violet. 

South Dakota . . '. Pasqne.' 

Texas Blue Bonnet. 

T^tah Sego Lily. 

Vermont Eed Clover. 

Washington Ehododendron. 

West Virginia Ehododendron Maximum. 



36 



'•TOWN CLEAXIXG DAY''. 

Eecently one of the Pittsburg teachers spoke of Arbor Day as 
Town Cleaning Day, and said that if notliing more were done than 
removing the rubbish from the streets and yards, this alone would 
justify the time and attention given to tlie suljject. ^Yhy not then 
on April 10th have a general cleaning up all over West \'irginia? 
The piles of old boxes and barrels, tons of wa-te pa]uu\ thous:^inds 
of tin cans and other rubbish do not make au attraclivc jucture Tor 
the eye as one travels around owr the State and ob.-iTvis this ■■mat- 
ter out of place"'. Get our hoys and gii'ls intere<tcd in this move- 
ment and the eti'ect will soon be uoticenblc. ^Moreover, sanitary 
conditions would be very much iiii[)i'ov('(l and an ii|)ward tendency 
wonld shoAv itsidi' ('\erywbere. 

Elementary Agriculture was added to the (-(nirse of study for our 
public schools by the Legislature at the reeent special session, and 
while teachers are not now required to pass examination on this 
subject, it is natural to conclude that in a few years such require- 
ment will be made. 

An edition of tbt^ new School Law will lie issued as soon as it 
can he put through the press. Howcmt the IJevislon docs not go 
into effect until May 30th. It would l)c \v(dl for all ti'acdicrs and 
school officers to inform themselves as to (he new pinx isions as soon as 
possible. 

He who makes two blades of grass grow where only one grew be- 
fore, is worlh more than this wliole race of |)olit icians. — Adaiii >'////'///. 

While Agriculture is not one of the l)raiU'lics upon wliicli teachers 
are now required to pass examination, still 1 shall include it in the 
course prescribed for the Teachers' Peadiug Cindc which is now 
fully recognized i)y law. 



'I'itc terrihlc disaster neai- Cleveland. Ohio, in whiidi l^o children 
were burned to death, is an object lessoii that is being heeded all 
over tiie country. Scliool l)uildiugs are being examined, fire escapes 
are being provided, children are being disciplined in lire drills and 
a great awakening on this subject is noticeable everywhere. Too 
much care can not be exercised when human life is at stake. It is 



hoped that all school buildings in West A'irginia will be properly 
provided with fire escapes, that doors shall always open outwards, 
and that in no case shall small children be allowed above a second 
story, and better still if all are kept on the first. 



At a meeting of the Monongahela Valley IJound Table held at 
Grafton on March 7th, the following resolutions submitted l)y a 
committee composed of Dr. C. J. C. Bennett of Fairmont, Dr. Wait- 
man Barbe, of Morgautown, and Prof. W. A. Beer, of C'larksl)urg, 
were unanimously adopted : 

"Tlie news of the destruction by fire of a school building at C'olliu- 
wood, Ohio, in which almost two hundred little children perished, 
arrests our attention. The details of the awful occurrence impress 
us witli tlie ignorance and shortsightedness shown in the construction 
of uuiny s'.h.ool liuildiiigs and in the lack of safe-guarding the pupils 
Kgrtiust lire; and wliile we thus publicly express our deepest sympa- 
thies for the fathers and mothers who have lost their dear ones in 
the file at CoUinwood, we also wish to arouse pulilic interest in the 
safety of pupils everywhere : therefore, be it 

Resolved. That we, the members of the ^lonongaliela Valley 
Iiound Table, henceforth continually urge upon our school authorities 
the necessity of greater care for the safety of the school children, to 
the end that every school building of our State be examined and 
improved in reference to fire escapes, stairways and exits and the 
observance of tire drills."" 




TirE House Wrex. 






THE WOKK OF THE SCHOOL IMPEOVEMEXT LEAGUE. 

By Miss Ethel Carle, Secretary. 

Our West Virginia School Improvement League is now nearly 
four years old and, considering its exceedingly informal methods 
and lack of definite organization, it has produced really remarkable 
results in many counties of our state, if I may judge from the letters 
and reports which have come to me from the county secretaries and 
from, individuals. I regret now that we have not had a more uni- 
form system of making these reports so that I might have kept a 
tabulated record of work done, which it has been impossible for me 
to do under the present arrangement. However, I do know that 
much good has been accomplished. 

The chief reason why the movement has made such rapid progress 
with so little organized effort on the part of the state officers is be- 
cause there has been a great awakening everywhere on the subject of 
"Civic Improvement" as it is sometimes called. The Ladies Home 
Journal and other popular magazines have taken up the subject and 
on all sides we hear of "Beautiful America Clubs" and "Civic Im- 
provement Clubs" and "Village Improvement Societies" as well as 
"School Improvement Leagues". The central idea of all these or- 
ganizations is to secure more attractive surroundings for home, 
school, and town. The very spirit of "improvement" is in the air 
and hundreds of West Virginia teachers have caught it. Those who 
have read from time to time the reports which have appeared in the 
West Virginia Scliool Journal concerning work done by West Vir- 
ginia teachers will agree with me that we have great reason to re- 
joice over ihe things already accomplished as well as the future 
prospects of our School Improvement League. School grounds have 
been cleaned up, shrubs and trees have lieen planted, school houses 
have been painted, fences built, libraries and pictures purchased, 
and many other improvements have been made through the efforts 
of earnest, energetic teachers working with their boys and girls. 
May the good work go on until every school house in the state shall be 
— as it should be — the model for the wliole community in matters of 
cleanliness and beauty, inside and out. 

I give below a list of books and pamphlets any of which will be 
found helpful in this work. In selecting books for school libraries 
at least one or two of these should be included : 
"Among Country Sdiools*'— by 0. J. Kern (Ginn & Co.) $1.00 



39 

"Children's Gardens"' — by Mrs. Evelyn Cecil. (Maemillan Co. IST. 

Y.) ^ $1.23 

"Home Acre"— By E. P. Roe (Dodd Mead and Co., N. Y.) • • .62 
"The Garden, Yon and I"— By Mrs. M. 0. Wright (Maemillan Co. 

N". Y.) ". i.oa 

"Our Mountain Garden"— By Mrs. E. F. Thomas (Maemillan Co. 

K Y.) 1.35 

The following pamphlets from The American Civic Association, 
Philadelphia : 

"Children's Gardens"— By Dick J. Crosby 10 

"Play and Play Grounds" — By Joseph Lee "35 

"School Gardens and Their Eelation to Other School Work" — By 

Baldwin 25 

"Suggestions for Beautifying Home Village and Eoadway" — By 

W. H. Manning 25 

"Uses of an Improvement Society" — Ic. each 

"Arbor Day Program" Ic. each 

'Good Eoads"— By 0. C. Simonds 25 

:\[annington, W. Ya., IMarch 10, 1908. 



WEST YIEGINIA FOEESTEY ASSOCIATION. 
Prof. T. C. Atkesox^ President. 
I'k'of. a. W. Xolax, Secretory. 



At a meeting of the Pomona Grange No. 2, on January 24th. 
1908, at the State University, resolutions were offered, looking to 
the organization of a West Virginia Forestry Association. A few 
days later a permanent organization was effected, choosing Prof. 
T. C. Atkeson as President, and Prof. A. W. Xolan as Secretary. 
The following Vice-Presidents were elected, one from each congres- 
sional district : Wm. H. Hearne, 1st, Jas. H. Stewart, 2nd, E. E. 
Thrasher, 3rd, H. A. Woodward, 4th, and James George, 5th. 

Constitution and by-laws, stating fully the plans and purposes of 
the Association were adopted, and the charter-membership as enroll- 
ed constituted repregentati\ies from twenty-three countries of the 
State, members of the University faculty, and of the Experiment 
Station staff. 

The objects for which the association stands, as stated in the con- 
stitution are as follows: 

1. To stand for the conservation of our forest resources. 



40 

2. To bring about better state laws for conserving and utilizing 
our forests. 

3. To take steps toward reforesting denuded lands, and the ex- 
empting of woodlands from taxation. 

4. To encourage tree planting by rural and urban communities, 
especially the planting of useful trees along the country highways. 

5. To educate the young to a higher appreciation of the economic 
as well as the esthetic value of trees. 

6. To encourage the observance by adults as well as by school 
children, of Arbor Day, as one of the greatest and happiest of our 
holidays. 

7. To unite in one popular and agressive organization, all 
persons who desire these objects, that tlie force of their numbers 
may be effective in securing forestry legislation, in creating and 
crystallizing public opinion, and in ditfusing among the people proper 
forestry knowledge. 

Thei'o is no fee attached to membership, and every person in the 
State, who is interested in the ol)jects and purposes of this associa- 
tion, is urged to send his name to the secretary, and get in touch 
with this important movement. 

Mr. A. W. Nolan, the secretary, has recently been appointed pro- 
fessor in charge of the new Department of Forestry in the State 
University, and he is ready to co-operate with all persons and organ- 
izations, who are interested in the forestry movement. The instruc- 
tional work in the University is offered in Economics of Forestry, 
Silviculture, Forest Mensuration and Management, and the courses 
give thorough training in Farm Forestry as well as excellent prepara- 
tion for the more technical courses. 

President T. C. Atkeson has appointed committees on Legislation. 
Civic Eelations, Arbor Day, Forest Eeserves, Program, also an expert 
Forester, Botanist, Entomologist, Zoologist, Geologist Ornithologist 
and Chemist. With tbis strong array of workmen in the organiza- 
tion, something constructive in forestry in West A'irginia may be 
hoped for. The Association appeals to the public spirited citizens 
and press of the state, for their continued interest and manifested 
sympathy, as a foundation upon which to build a permanent State 
Forestry policy. The duty that lies next is to petition Congress to 
pass the Appalachian l^escrve Law. 




Upper Figures— CHESTNUT- BACKED BLUEBIRD 
Order — Passeres Family — Turdid^b 

Genus — Sialia Species — Mexicana 

Subspecies — Bairdi 

Lower Figures— BLUEBIRDS 
Order — Passeres Family — Turdid-e 

Genus — Sialia Species — Sialis 



RTESY OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF AUDUBON SOCIETIES. NEW YORK CITY 







*"^*%#tjT I 



A Si'RUCE Forest in Raxdolph County. 
Of course our fine timber is very valuable and in great demand, and 
while much of it will necessarily be removed, tbj destruction would not 
be so great if the smaller trees and undergrowth could be preserved and 
forest fires prevented. It is hoped that the West Virginia Forestry Asso- 
ciation, recently organized, will put forth efforts that will save some of 
our fine timber areas, and that provision may be made for re-foresting some 
of our denuded regions. Is it too much to expect that West Virginia may 
soon have a Forestry Commission with authority not only to suggest, but 
to act in behalf of the preservation of our magnificent forest areas in the 
Appalachian water-shed? 



41 

FORESTRY AND ARBOR DAY. 

By A. W. Nolan, Secretary Forestry Association. 
The true message of Arbor Day is that the forest is the producer and 
custodian of the necessaries of life and happiness. All the teachings 
of forestry aim to put this idea into practice, and since the public 
schools reach so many people, especially the young people who are 
so open-minded to the truths of life and nature, it is highly important 
that the message of Arbor Day should come to every school in the 
land. Thus Arbor Day is the time to bring home to the children, 
through the principles of nature-study, the simplest and most im- 
portant truths of forestry. In the planting of trees on Arbor Day 
a great opportunity has been lost, if reference to the commercial 




\ ^V 






Ri:i)\vixt:Ki) Blac KP.iiti). 

utility and protective value of forests, is omitted. It cannot be 
hoped that the great mass of cliildren taking part in Arl)or Day 
exercises, may ever contribute much to the solution of the larger prob- 
lems of forestry, but before the ideals .of forestry can be worked out 
successfully in this country, public opinion, and sane forestry senti- 
ment must be created and crystallized into a national policy, and this 
result an intelligent observance of Arbor Day may help to bring 
about. One ideal for which forestry stands, however, may be helped 
to realization by Arbor Day celebrations, and that is, that the home 
grounds, the school grounds, the roadsides, and all public as well a^ 
private grounds, may be beautified by trees. The important thing 



42 

is. that out of the sentiments and emotions of Arbor Da}^ permanent 
results be left, — lasting impressions in the minds of the children, 
of the use and beauty of tree life. 

The objects of this National Society, as stated in the constitution, 
are: (1) to promote critical investigation of all phases of nature- 
study, (as distinguished from technical science) in schools, espe- 
cially all studies of nature in elementary schools; and (2) to work for 
the establishment in schools of such nature-study as has been demon- 
strated valuable and practical for elementary education. 

The established principles to guide in the teaching of nature- 
study are as follows : 

First. Xature-study is a direct observational study of the com- 
mon things and processes of nature from the standpoint of our hu- 
man interests in nature as it touches our daily life directly. 

Second. Nature-study should be differentiated from science, 
in its strictly technical sense. 

Third. The aims of nature-study may be stated thus: (a) to 
give general acquaintance with and interest in common objects and 
processes of nature, (b) to give the first training in accurate observ- 
ing, as means of gaining knowledge direct from nature, (c) to give 
pupils useful knowledge concerning natural objects and processes 
as they directly affect human life and interests. 

Fourtb. Tlic ())!(' fundamental method of teaching nature-study 
consists in getting the pupil to see and think for himself. True 
natuie-study cannot be primaril}- book study. 

Fifth. In choosing the material, select the most common and the 
most interesting from the view-point of every day life. 

Sixth. Nature-study must be adapted for the child, and not for 
adults. 

With these six principles to guide, the intelligent teacher cannot 
fail to do good teaching in nature-study. The following synopsis 
of a course of study is recommended, 'flio idea is not so much the 
addition of n new study as the enrichment of the older branches. 

GWAnKS 1 AND 2. 

The main olijeet of nature-study in tbese grades is to give general 
acquaintance, and arouse interest in the common things of their 
lift — birds, trees, insects, flowers, pets, etc. A study of pets is ey- 
cellent for this grade. How the pets care for themselves. Why we 
arc interested in the pets. How we may care for them. Growing 
.)f plants is a fine topic. The garden habit is a splendid one for 
• hildren to form. 



40 
O 

Thi? will be all the Elementary Agriculture needed in these grades. 

Grade 3. 

Xature-study, Home Geography, and Elementary Agriculture 
should be the same subject in this grade. Such topics as the follow- 
ing are suitable : homes, streets, land surfaces, drainage, transporta- 
tion, the dominant industry, and the geographic condition .favoring, 
the relation to home, fruits, harvesting and preserving, materials used 
in home-building, sources of water in city and country, washing of 
soil, weather observations, simple hygiene of the home, etc. 

Grade 4. 

This work should accompany the industrial work of the Elemen- 
tary Geography. Lumbering, mining, fishing, farming, grazing, etc. 
all fui'nish topics excellent for nature-study and Elementary Agri- 
culture. When these topics are studied in accordance with the above 
named principles, they are sufficient for the work of nature-study 
and Agriculture of this grade. 

Grade 5. 

In this grade may be begun a more intensive study of nature 
topics, and a text may be used if a suitable one can be found. The 
following topics are suitable: Trees. Roth's First Book of Fores- 
try, is a valuable aid to the teacher here. Birds. Give general ac- 
quaintance with form, habit and habitat. Teach common names, 
economic values, bird protection, etc. Note-book keeping is a good 
thing to begin in this grade. The main aim is to arouse- permanent 
interest, so that the boy and girl may become good citizens, able 
and willing to do effective w^ork in these lines for the community. 
Insects, toads, and their relations to human interests. Garden work. 
Use of tools. Many topics of Elementary Agriculture may be taken 
up in this course. At least one period a week should be given to this 
work. 

Grade 6. 

In this grade all the topics of the preceding grade are appropriate, 
and in addition, work in physical nature-study may be given, corre- 
lated in many cases with the Geography. Such topics as these are 
good: 

Atmosphere, heat, temperature and moisture of the air, light and 



44 

electricity, etc. Avoid the generalizations of science. Woodhull's 
School-room Experiments, will give valuable help to the teacher in 
this work. 

Grades 7 and 8. 

]n these grades in the ordinary school it will be best perhaps to 
give much of the geography in the spirit of nature-study, and begin 
a text in Elementary Agriculture. The work may be given on alter- 
nating days with the Geography. One of the best texts for these 
grades would be Bailey's Principles of Agriculture. 

It is not the purpose of Elementary Agriculture lo train all to be 
farmers, but to give to all an intelligent and sympathetic attitude to 
this most important of industries, and to establish a closer and more 
harmonious relation between nature and the life of the people. 

Much interest has been awakened by the establishment of the Sage 
Foundation fund for the investigation of the causes of poverty in 
this country. What larger and more widely disseminated causes of 
poverty can we hope to discover than our tax for preventable dis- 
ease, our bills for patent medicines, our tax for insect damages, our 
forest product famine, and the devastating floods and fires on ac- 
count of national ignorance of forestry, our ruinous soil impoverish- 
ment, our wanton destruction of bird life, and many other drains 
on our national prosperity e(]ua]ly unnecessary. Here are ]U'oli- 
lems which lie close to the life of the child and the home, prohleni.^ 
of wholesome homes and clean living, prol)leins of birds and insects, 
gardens, fields and woods and pure water. These are problems Avhicli 
meet the criterion of human interests which it must be the function 
of the system of public education to begin to solve. ]\lay natur-'- 
study and Elementary Agriculture l)e the means of hastening and 
establishino: the sfood work. 



NATl I.'K-STIDV AND KLEMKX^'Ah'V .VGinClTLTn^'E. 

It is very ini|)()rlant at iliis time in om- State. sinc(> Elcmciilary 
Agriculture is to become a paii of llu' cuiTiciiluni ot tln' coiiiiiion 
schools, to consider the |)rincip]es that shall guide us in Icachinii- 
this subject. Are we 1<i iiiti'oduce an entirely new subject, or -.wo we 
to adapt and modify the old to |»ii'senl (hiy needs;-' What is the re- 
lation of Elementary Agriculture to Nature-Study? What is miture- 
study? These are 'luestion- that we must answer now. 



45 

There seems to be a strong popular impression that each advocate 
of nature-study is a law unto himself, and that nature-study is a 
fad, unorganized and indefinite. Fortunately for the schools, and 
teachers the best thinkers in Elementary Education and the leading 
experts in science, have agreed that there are estal)lished principles 
of nature-study, and as a result of this agreement, there has been 
very recently organized, the American iSTature-Study Society. We 
shall turn with interest to the proceedings and recommendations of 
this society. 

The following well-known men are the ofiicers of this new society, 
and their names should give authority to what is to Ije herein recom- 
mended : 

(The official publication of the Society is The Nature- Study Re- 
view, Teachers' College, IST. Y. City.) 

President, L. H. Bailey, Cornell University; Secretary-Treasurer, 
M. A. Bigelow, Teachers' College, Cokimbia; Vice-Presidents, C. F. 
Hodge, Clark University; F. L. Stevens, V. L. Kellog, W. Lochhead, 
and F. L. Charles. 

Directors: D. J. Crosby, C. E. Mann, S. Coulter, H. W. Fair- 
banks, M. F. Guyer, 0. W. Caldwell, G. F. Trafton, F. L. Clements, 
Puth Marshall and E. P. Downing. 





4<l 

SOME OF THE MORE COMMON BIEDS FOUXD IX WEST 

VIRGINIA. 

Wood Thrush. Rohin, .Mockiiiuhird, Calbii'd. Bhiehircl. Tut'ted Tit- 
mouse. C'aroliua Chicadee. Brown l'reep('r. House W'l'eii. WiuiiT Wren, 
American Tithu'k. Nashville Warbler, Suuiiuer Yellow 1 inl. Small 
Billed Water 'i'hrusli. Kentuck\- Wai'hlei-. Aiueiiean Wedstart. \\arb- 
ling Mreo. Cedar A^'ax-wiiig. Pur])le .Martin, ('lift' Swallow, Barn Swal- 
lo-\v, Sunnner Jiedldrd. Pine (iro^^beak. Purjile I'^iuch. i-jiglisb Sjiar- 
row'. r.ark' Finch. Field Sparrow. Chewink. Indigo JUiuting. i>ob(iliid<:, 
Cowbird, ^[eadow Lark, Orchard Oriole. American ]i'a\eii. (oiiinion 
Crow. Blue Jay. Pewee. Chininev Swift. Wliippooi-will. Xiglithawk, 
Ilairv \\'ood])ecker. Belted Kinglisbcr, American Barn Owl. Little 
Screech Owl, Pigeoi! Hawk. (Jolden j-'auie. Aldiiimng 1)m\c, Wild Tur- 
key, American Quail, Kildeer, Amci ican Wdoilcock. K'obin. Snipe, ^'el- 
low Legs, Virginia Eail, American ('oot.W'hoopijig Ci'ane, Snow (ioose. 
Mallard, Pintail, Wood L^nck, Canvas Back, Doulde Breasted Cormo- 
rant. White AVinged Gull, Black Tern. H(n-ned Grebe. Loon, Ped- 
tliroated Diver, Wood Ibis, Fish Hawk. l>ald Fagli\ Black Snow Bird, 
Prairie Warbler, American Crossbill. (Jrass Finch. Lea<t FIvcalcher. 



OrP S^'ATF LAW FOP Till-: IM.'O'ld-A'TlO.X OF 'IM I K lUPOS. 

As a matter of interest as well as inlVtrniation \n the pupils n\' our 
schools and the people of the State genei-ally, 1 have ]>leasure in pub- 
lishing herewith Senate Bill No. 11(5, introduced by Mr. Ha/.lctt of 
Wheeling, and ])assed at the session oi' the Lcgislatuic in I'.MiL 

An Act for the protectiori of birds, and their nests and eggs. 
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia : 

Sec. 1. That all wild birds, both resident and nngratory, in this 
state, shall be, and arc hereby declared to be the ]n-operty of the state. 

Sec. 2. That no person shall, within the state o\' West \'irgiida, 
kill or catch or have in his or her possession, livinL;- oi- dead, any 
wild bird other than a game bird, or ])urchase. offer or expose for 
sale, transport or ship within or Avithout the state, any such w ild bird 
after it it has been killed or caught, except as permitted by this act. 
No part of the plumage, skin, or body of any bird ])rotected by this 
section shall be sold or had in possession for sale, irrespective of 
whether said bird was captured or killed within or without the state. 



47 

Foi" tlir purpose oT this lu-t the fi)ll(i\vini;- only shall he considered game 
oinis: Tlic aualida', coininoiilx- known as swans, geese, hrant, and 
rive:' and sea ducks; the I'illida'. eounnonly known as rails, coots, 
mud-hens and galliniules"; ihe liniicohv, conimonly known as shore 
hirds, plovers, surf Ijii-ds, snii)e, woodcocks, sand [)ipers, tatlers, and 
curlews; the galliiue. eonimonlv known as wild tiD'keys, grouse, ])rairie 
chickens. ])heasants, parli'idges, and quails. .Ml other s]iecies of wild 
birds, either resident oi- Jingi'atoiw. >Jiall he considered non-game 
hird~. 

See. ;i. That no |)er>on shall, within the state ot \Ve>t N'irginui 
1ak" or needlessly destrov oi' attempt to take or destroy the ni'st -or 
the (gu's ot any wild hii-d other than a game hird, or ha\e such nest 
or egi;s in his oi' her po;;ses>ion. exce])t as pL'rnntted hv this act. 

Sec. 4. 'Jdiat no pei'son oi- peisons or any ciM'poratiDii acting as a 
oonntHui carriei-. its olliceis. agents or ser\ants. >;hall ship, carry, take 
or tr.'insport. either within or heyond the contines ol' the state any res- 
ident or migi'atoi'v wild Jion-game hird. except as permitted hy this 
act. 

Sec. ."). That any person wdio violates any of theprovisions of this 
act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall lie liable to a line of 
five doUars for each offense, and an additional tine of hve dollars for 
each bird, living or dead, or ])art of hird. or nest, or set of eggs, or 
part thereof, possessed in violation of this act. (.r to imprisonment for 
thirty days, or both, at the discretion of the court. 

Sec. G. That sectioJl^ 2. ;!. 4 and 5 of this act shall not appiv to 
any person holding a cei'titicate giving the right to take hirds, their 
nests, or eggs for scientilic purposes only, as provided foi- in section 
7 of this act. 

Sec. 7. That certiticates may be granted to any properly accred- 
ited person of the age of fifteen years or upward, permitting the 
holder thereof to collect birds, their nests, or eggs for scientific pur- 
]iose,s only. The applicant for same must present to said officer writ- 
ten testimonials from two well known ornithologists who must be 
residents of West Virginia, certifying to the good character, and fit- 
ness of said applicant to be intrusted wdth such privilege; must pay 
said officer one dollar to. defray the necessary expenses attending the 
granting of such certificate. On proof that the holder of such certifi- 
cate has killed any bird, or taken the nest or eggs of an.y bird for 
other than strictly scientific purposes, his certificate shall become 
void, and he shall be liable to a fine of one hundred dollars or im- 
prisonment of thirty days, or both, at the discretion of the court. 



48 

Sec. 8. The certificates authorized by section 7 of this act shall 
expire on the 31st day of December of the year issued, and shall not 
be transferable. 

Sec. 9. That the English or European house sparrow, great horned 
owl, sharp sliinned hawk and cooper's liawk. are not included among 
the I'ird- ]u-ot<^cl('d by tliis a:i. 

Sec. 10. That notliing in this act shall prevent a citizen of West 
Virginia from taking or keeping any wild non-game bird in a cage 
as a domestic pet, provided that such bird shall not be sold, or ex- 
changed, or offered for sale or excliange, or transpoited out of this 
stale. 

Sec. 11. All other acts or parts of acts in conflict with this act 
are hereby repealed. 



XATIOXAL ASSOCTATIOX OF AT^DUBOX SOdETIES. 

A ScpiooL Audubon Bird Club — How to Organize. 
Bjj Gilbert II. Trafton. 



One way of developing interest in the study and protection of birds 
among children is by the formation of bird clubs, officered and carried 
on by the children under the guidance of a teacher. In this Avay a 
feeling of responsibility will be developed and the children may be 
changed from indifferent friends, or even persecutors of birds, to 
their ardent protectors. 

The Promoter. The work of organizing the club and of guiding- 
its activities must he under the close supervision of some teacher who 
is concerned in the study and protection of birds and who has a desire 
to interest and instruct the children. 

rrcliiiiinaries. Announcement shoidd be made tliat a meeting is 
to be lield lo organize a Bird Club, naming the time and place, and 
it may be well to have this announcement made by fhe principal of 
the school. The co-operation of all the teachers should be sought that 
they may talk with their children and seek to interest them in the 
organization of the club. Some copies of the educational leaflets 
published by the National Association of Audubon Societies may be 
obtained free for distribution at the first meeting, on request. 

First Meeting. In order that the children may realize that the 
formation of a Bird Club is something reallv worth while and worth v 




AMERICAN GOLDFINCH 

Upper Figure, Male: Lower Figure. Female 

(One -half natural sizei 



HE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF AUDUBON SOCIETIES, NEW YORK CITY 




The Baltialore Oriole. 
Courtesy Houghton, Mifflm ^ Co., Boston. 



49 

of the effort, the teacher should cx])huii at the openino; of the meeting- 
8()iiu'thin>i- about the value of birds and the pleasure that may be de- 
rived from studying them. 

A temporary ehairu-ian and secretary should be chosen. To sim- 
])lify matters it will be well for the teacher to nominate these, ex- 
])laining to the children tliat they are to serve only till the Club elects 
its permanent officers. 

The two following resolutions should then be presented and regu- 
larly seconded and adopted, arrangements having l)een made before- 
hand with two children to read these resolutions. 

I<t'.<n/rcd. That the temporary chairmaii shall appoint a committee 
of tive. which shall include himself and the secretary, to prepare and 
])iest'nt a constitution for consideration and adoption by the Club at 
an adjourned meeting. 

Resolved, That a committee of three shall be appointed by the 
temporary chairman to nominate permanent officers. (The teacher 
should cxi)laiii the method by whieh resolutions are presented, second- 
ed and adopted). 

The meeting is then adjourned till the connnittees are prepared to 
report, at which time another meeting is called by the temporary 
chairman. 

These connnittees should be called together l)y the teaclier, who 
should direct their work. 

Second ^Meeting. The committee on constitution should first re- 
port, and the constitution should be discussed and adopted section by 
section. 

The connnittee to nominate officers should report next and the 
permanent olficers should be elected. 

The following outline is suggested for a constitution whicn may 
lie modified as each club desires. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE AUDUBON BIED CLUE OF 

SCHOOL. 

ARTICLE I. Xamk. 
The name of this organization shall be The Audubon Bird Club 
of School. 

AETICLE II. Objects. 

The objects for which this C^lul) is formed are: (1) to study the- 
birds; (2) to protect the birds; (3) to attract birds around our school,. 



oO 

in our parks and about our homes; (4) to observe with suitable cere- 
monies some day in spring to be known as Bird and Arbor Day; (5) 
to acquire a library of nature books, a lantern and colored slides of 
birds; (6) to plant trees and shrubs in school grounds and along 
highways. 

ARTICLE III. Members. 

All pupils of this school are eligible for membership. All persons 
who attend the meeting for organization shall be considered charter 
members. Thereafter members shall be duly proposed and elected. 
The teachers of the school shall be honorary members. 

ARTICLE lY. Meetings. 

Meetings shall be held at least twice each month, or on the call of 
the president for a suitable reason. 

ARTICLE y. Dues. 

The dues shall not exceed two cents per month. 

ARTICLE A'l. Officers. 

The otlficers of this Club shall be a president, a vice-president, a 
^secretary and a treasurer. The terrii of office shall not exceed three 
months. The duties of the officers shall be as follows : president, to 
]ireside at all meetings; vice-president, to preside in the absence of 
the president ; secretary to record the proceedings of all meetings and 
to conduct the necessary correspondence of the Club; treasurer, to 
tcollect all dues and pay all bills authorized by the Club. 

; ARTICLE YII. Committees. 

The committees of this Club shall be : Committee on Feeding Birds 
in Winter; Committee on Nesting Houses; Committee on Drinking 
and Bathing Fountains; Committee on Plants to Attract Birds 
around our School and Homes; Committee on Protection of Birds 
during the Nesting Season; Committee on Law (to post warning 
notices and to report violations of the bird laws to the proper author- 
ities) ; Committee on Migration Records; Committee on Preparing a 
Local List of Birds; Committee on Bird Census; Committee on a 
Bird Ijibrary for the School. These committees shall be appointed 
by the president, who shall also determine their size. The member 
first named shall be chairman. 



51 



AETICLE VIII. Duties of Committees. 

The duties of these committees shall be to collect information on 
the topics suggested by the names of the committees and to report at 
the meetings, giving suggestions to the members on the best method 
of procedure. It shall also be the duty of the committees to assist 
the members in carrying on their various lines of work and to learn 
the results of the members' efforts. A report of these results and of 
the work done by each committee shall be given at the regular meet- 
ings of the Club. 



;i/i/'/f 




The Bobolink. 



ARTICLE IX. Amendments. 

Any amendments to this constitution may be adopted by a two- 
thirds vote of the members present at any regular meeting, notice of 
such amendment having been presented at the previous regular 
meeting. 

Suggestions. 

The time and frequency of the meetings must be adapted to meet 
local conditions. In very large schools it may be pretcraDIe To or- 



53 

ganize several medium-sized clubs in place of one large one. The 
work of the club must be under the close supervision of the teacner, 
who must use some tact in directing the work so that the supervision 
may not be too evident to the children, who should be allowed ta 
direct themselves as much as possible. The teacher should help the 
president in appointing the committees. These should l)e large 
enougli, and there should be enough of them so that each child shall 
have some work to do. It should be made clear to the children that 
the work of tlie committees is not that they alone shall do the things 
suggested by the name, but that they are to help the other members 
of the Club to carry on the line of work suggested. A special short 
meeting should be called to announce the appointment of committees, 
at which time their duties may be briefly explained. 

The purpose of the meetings should be to encourage the children 
to do something in the line of bird study and protection. The pro- 
gram should not consist of such topics and discussions as the children 
are able to get from books, but may consist of reports of committees 
showing what has been done in their line of work and giving sug- 
gestions for further work. Some of the children may l)e assigned 
special topics of outdoor studies upon which to report the results of 
their own observations, such as experiences in feeding binls and pro- 
viding nesting houses, etc., the nesting of some kind of l)ird : new ar- 
rivals since the last meeting of the Club; peculiarities in the flight of 
birds; characteristics of the appearance and habits of certain classes 
of birds, as the swallows, woodpeckers, ilycatchers, sparrows, etc.; 
identification of birds by songs; list of birds seen in a single day; 
eacli child inay l)e assigned a certain l)ird to study for a season and 
then nuiy report all that he had observed. 

.If the sciiool does not own a lantern one should be ])urchased bv 
the Club from the funds created by dues. Exhibitions of colored 
slides of birds, animals, Howers. trees and scenery are l)oth instruct- 
inu: and interestino-. 



53 



THE STUDY OF BIBDS. 

AN OUTLINE FOR USE IN SCHOOLS — PREPARED FOR THE ILLINOIS AUDU- 
BON SOCIETY BY ALICE HALL WALTER. 



FALh.— INDOOR WORK. 

1. Fifteen-minute talks once a week on Migration and Bird Fam- 
ilies. 

SEPTEMBER: A Fall Journey. Sights and Flight. Distance 
and Danger. Food and Farmer. These talks sho^ild emhrace a gen- 
eral description of migration, the mortality among birds on their 
migratory passage and an introduction to the subject of their food 
•and economic value. 

OCTOBER : Explain the significance of the terms Bird Families 
and Order Passers. Describe the general family characteristic of; 
Thrushes, Kinglets and Gnatcatchers; Nuthatches and Titmice; 
Creepers; Wrens and Thrashers; Wagtails. 

NOVEMBER: Warhlrrs; Vireos; Shrikes; Wa.vwings; Sivallows; 
T onagers. 

DECEMBER: Sparrous and Finches; Blackbirds and Orioles: 
Crows and Jays; Larks; Flycatchers. Add any particular points of 
interest about the individual species in these families. 

2. Ask each pupil to bring in Areekly one fact about the subject 
under discussion. Devote 15 minutes to a verbal report of same. 

3. Use charts and colored pictures. Trace on map the winter 
home of migrants. 

-\. Begin a school record of the bird population in your vicinity, 
using the headings, Permanent Eesidents, Fall and Spring Migrants, 
Winter A'isitors, Summer Eesidents. 

5. Subscribe for The Wayside and Bird-Lore. 

OUTDOOE WOEK. 

1. Begin to observe birds; remember where you see them; notice 
their size. 

2. Where do you see the most birds? in the air? in the water? 
on the ground? on trees or about bushes? 

o. Identify the Englisli Sparroiv, Blue Jay, Robin, Flicker, Bronz- 
ed Crackle, Barn Swallow, Brown Creeper. 



54 

4. Try comparing tlie size of these birds. Eemembcr that the 
Robin is 10 inches long and the English Sparrow 6 inches long. 

5. Do yon see birds in flocks? Do you see the same birds every 
day throiiglioiit the fall? 

6. Try to learn which birds remain all the fall. 

7. Observe what birds eat. Can you name any of the trees or 
shrubs on or about which you have seen birds feeding? What seeds 
do birds eat? 

S. Eeport on these questions at school. Which birds under head- 
ing 3 are useful and need protection? 

^YmTER.—INDOOR WORK. 

1. Talks on Bird Families continued, emphasizing adaptation of 
structure to flight and procuring food; the bill, tongue, tail and feet; 
environment and color of plumage. (See Chapman's Bird Life; 
Fanny Hardy Eckstorm's The Bird Boole.) 

JANUARY : Hummingbirds; Svnfts and Goatsuckers; Woodpech- 
ers; Kingfishers and Cuckoos. 

FEBRUARY: Owls, Haivks, and other Birds of Prey; Pigeons; 
Grouse, Partridge. 

MARCH: Plover, Snipes and Sandpipers; Rails and Coots; Her- 
ons and Bitterns; Ducks, Geese and Swans; Gulls and Terns; Loon'i 
and Grebes. 

2. Start an Audubon Society of Reading Club holding half-hour 
meetings weekly. 

3. Start a school or Audubon Society lihrarij. to.be added to 
yearly. 

4. A^isit a museum if convenient. Mount the Mumford colored 
plates to hang up in school-room. 

5. Add the "winter visitors" observed, to school record. Reports 
of pupils. 

6. Let the pupils compile a school scrap-book of prose, poems and 
pictures about l)irds. 

OUTDOOR WORK. 

1. Hang out pieces of salt pork and suet. What birds like this 
food? 

2. Make a birds' lunch-counter. Who visits it? 

3. Do you see birds in a snow-storm? or on very cold days? 



4. Do you find any holes in the bark of trees? If so, on what 
trees? how are the holes arranged? how many holes? how high up 
from the ground are they ? what shape ? who makes them ? 

5. Do the birds sing in winter ? What time of day do you see them ? 

6. Why do "winter visitors"' come south? Do birds suffer from 
the cold? 

7. What do birds find to eat in winter? 

8. What birds come first in March? Where from? Where are 
they going? 

9. Do any birds go away in March? If so, where? 

10. Identify the Junco, Bluebird, Croiv, Tree Sparrow, White- 
Irreasied Nuthatch, Shrike, Sapsucker, Cardinal, Song Sparrow, Cow- 
hlrd, Downy Woodpecker. 

SFmHiG.— OUTDOOR WOBK. 

APRIL: 1. Identify the Meadowlark, Prairie Horned Lark, 
Phoehe, Towhee, Tree swallow. Kingfisher, Bedwinged Blackbird, the 
Kinglets, Mourning Dove, Hermit Tlirush, Chipping Sparrow, Gold- 
finch, WhitetJiroated Sparrow, Cedar Waxwing, House Wren. 

2. Keep track of the wind. How does it affect the birds? 

3. Make some bird houses. (Nature Study and Life, Hodge, 
Chap. XX). 

4. What bird-songs do you hear? call-notes? 

5. Do you see m.ore birds on a sunny day than on a windy day? 
or on rainy days? 

6. Do you see more birds in early morning than in the afternoon ? 

7. When do birds sing the most? How do birds sleep? 

8. Observe how different birds fly and walk. Do all birds walk? 
A[AY: 1. Identify the Catbird, Purple Martin, Red-headed 

Woodpecker, Myrtle and Yelloiv Warblers, Least Flycalchcr, Chimney 
Swift, Kingbird, Bobolink, Wood Thrush, Baltimore Oriole, Red- 
eyed Vireo, Scarlet Tanager, Cuckoo, Indigo bird, Nightliaivk, Wood 
Pewee, Hummingbird. 

2. Which birds sing the best? which the least? 

3, AVhat does the English SparroAV do? Eeport on its treatment 
of other birds. 

i. Can you tell any birds by their flight? Try the Swallows and 
Woodpeckers. 

JUNE: 1. Do you see any birds making nests? AYhat do they 
use? How do thev work? 



50 

3. Do 3'ou see any new l)ir(ls? Have any l)ir(ls gone away? Wlioii? 
Where? 

3. Do you hear any birds singing as they fly? 

4. Are there an}- marsh or water birds in your vicinity? If .^o, 
•describe them. 

5. Do you notice any difForonco in the phimago of nmlc and fe- 
male birds? 

(). What do gulls and terns eat? bawi<s and owls? buzzards and 
vultures? 

IXDOOE WOEK. 

1. Talks on the I'antjc and (i>'0(/ni))]iir(il Dlstrihiilion of ])irds and 
Bird Frotedion. 

2. Talks on Fail hers, their an^angcnicnt and uses. Muii/liiia. 
Ne>^l, and Xesting Ilahiis. 

3. Sketch a simple l)ird topograi)liy on l)lackl)onrd, and bavc the 
pupils draw and name the parts. 

4. Eeview of Bird Families according lo the A. (). V. order. 
.Ask each pu])il to report on some sultjoct discussed tlirough ihe year. 
Use pictures. 

T). Exchange migi'ation records weekly with schools in dilferent 
parts of the state ;ind posl such ri'cords on a hii'd bulletin-board. 

(). Bird and Arhoi- Day Program. Invite friends. West A^irginia 
•game laws and the .\. <>. I . moilel protection law. Have an honor 
cssa^'. Illustrate the economie \alue of birds hy an exhibit of nox- 
ious seeds and insects. Music, headings, ivxhihit school scrap- 
book and pictures. I{;nlarge youi' Audubon Sociely. 

7. Encourage all original work. 

-S. jMake a bird-ceiisus and I'ood-chart as descri])ed by Mr. llodge. 

!). Ask ]mpils to write prize' h'tltus lo The Wdi/sidc and Bird- 
Lore. 

svwMVAi.— or r /)()()/: wouk. 

1. Are there any bii'ds nesiing al)oul \mw home? have you any 
■cats? Try to tind out why the l)ii'ds do or ilo not nest in your grounds. 

2. Cive the birds a dish of fnsli water (hiily. (Set' llodge.) 

.'). Study the trees, bushes and ])laces wheic bii'ds are nesting. 
How are the nests pbu-ed ? what is tbeii- shajx'? which hiids nest 
first? 

4. Do not disturb cither nests, eggs or birds. Keej) i/oiir eyes open 
iind see whai; goes on. 




CARDINAL 

Upper Figure, Female: Lower Figure, Male 

(One -half natural size) 



ESV OF THE NITIONAL ASSOCIATION OF AUDUBON SOCIETIES, NE^^ 




^iM^^^^'^i::^:-H^^^^ 



'>^"- 



A Vine Clad Porch. 
From B. F. Johnson Company's "Agriculture. 



Il^ 








mSf 








S-, ■ , 


■n 


JM 


kiK --- 


f 


II 


^9 


w 



■^'h. 






m. 



Pleasant Sueroundings. 
Courtesy C. M. Parker, Taylorville, Ills. 



1 



i 



57 



5. Are there any swallows about your eaves and barns or swifts in 
your chimneys? 

(!. What time do the birds stop feeding? How and where do birds 
sleep ? 

7. Are there any birds about at night? Do any birds sing or feed 
at night? 

8. Watch the baljy-birds learning to fly. How do they act? 

9. Do birds sing in July and August? Do they sing or feed 
when it is very hot? 

10. Do you see birds on the telegraph and telephone wires? in 
deep woods? in sandy places? 

11. Are there as many birds now as there used to l)e? Why not? 

12. What enemies have birds? what friends? 

IT). Keep a daily record and learn to keep track of the birds aljout 
you. 

1-1. Learn the ^'pennancnt residents"' in your vicinity. 




Thk Cat Bird. 



INDOOR WORK. 

1. Make a diagram reviewing the bird-census and food-chart. 

2. Read all the bird-books you can. 

3. Keep up the meetings of the Audubon Society and have at 
least four public meetings during the year. 



58 

4. Make a note-book in which to record your outdoor and indoor 
work. 

XoTE. — This outline is merely a collectidn of hints, drawn from various sources 
and arranged with the idea of suggesting some sort of systematic bird study. It 
may be simplified or enlarged to meet the needs of the pupils. If time is limited, 
try the outdoor work during the Spring migration, with such points of indoor work 
as seem best adapted to your particular school. The school-record, migration bul- 
letin e.xchange. colored pictures and a Bird and Arbor Day program are earnestl.v 
recommended as being the greatest practical bcnetit. 



THE PURPOSES OF THE SCHOOL IMPE0VE:\1ENT LEAGUE 

By L. W. Burns, Presidnit. 
The work of the AYest Virginia Scliool Lnproveiiiont League is 
steadily progressing. 

ITS PURPOSES. 

1. To improve and beautify school Ijuildings without ami witli- 
in; 

2. To improve and beautify school grounds; 

3. To establish school libraries; 

4. To provide playgrounds. These are all receiving mucli at- 
tention; but [he third object, since the great awakening concern- 
ing libraries by our State Superintcmlent three years ago, has 
caused thousands of volumes to be put into the schools where they will 
be of untold benefit in interesting and influencing young minds, and 
no object of the League will have more lasting good than this. 

The fourth object has recently been added, and is of great im- 
portance. I believe that if some of our great philanthropists would 
turn their attention to aiding in building and equipping good gym- 
nasiums and providing good playgrounds for the millions of public 
school children of our country, they would in this way be of greater 
benefit than any other way possible to future generations. An ex- 
president of the League said, '^"Let us have a large covered space near 
every school where the children may play." Why not have such ? 
The cost would ])e little. 

Much of the success of the Scliool Improvement League depends, 
upon the encouragement and guidance of the County Superintendents 
of the State. One of our oldest and best County Superintendents has 
devised, and has in use in his county a most excellent plan of report- 
ing all improvements by each school. Would it not he well for 
others to trv this? 



59 

The new school law given to the state recently Avill stand as a mon- 
ument to the memory of those who worked so hard to secure it. It 
means much to our public school system. Shall we not be so encour- 
aged by this that we will all join in the good work and determine to 
push forward the work of improvement to be secured h\ the four 
objects of the School Improvement League? 

Marlinton, Mar. 12, 1908. 



THE PEOBLEM OF THE EOADS. 

The law Avhich was passed by the last session of the Legislaturo 
providing for the consolidation of rural schools is certainly a move 
in the right direction. That schools can and have been conducted 
more economically by this method than by the methods now in use 
in most of the districts of the State, needs no further proof than the 
fact that in many of the states such is true. 

No reasonable man doubts the advisability of having schools 
graded, the pupils properly classified, the teachers placed in charge 
of the classes for which they are most nearly fitted by training anl 
disposition. 

No one believes that such consolidation, such classification of pu- 
pils, such adjustment of ftwhchers to classes would not be greatly to 
the advantage of the pupil. Consolidation implies the transportation 
of pupils to and from the school. But how transport them with tb.o 
present condition of our roads in most of the rural districts? There 
is but one method of solution; build roads. It is true that in some 
of the rural districts of the State good roads are already being main- 
tained, but in most sections of the State it will be necessary to im- 
prove our roads before consolidation of schools can meet with great- 
est success. By improvement in this case, I do not mean to Macadam- 
ize at a cost of several thousands of dollars. The first thing neces- 
sary for any road is its proper location. No amount of money wilt 
make a good road on a poor location. Tou cannot build roads on 
steep grades except at grea,t cost both for building and maintenance. 
Our ideas of road building in most districts of this State have been 
entirely too narroM^ County Courts often send out viewers to locate 
roads for themselves or for the accommodation of one or two of their 
neighbors with no thought for the development of the country. In 
this way roads are located over hills, on steep grades, for the accom- 
modation of some political healer of the county court, when the 
same distance would have taken the road around the hill on a level.. 



60 

What matters the accommodation of inv neighbor compared to the 
accommodation of those who draw thousands of tons of freight an- 
mially over the roads? 

By properly ronnding up the road, and rolling it, and l)y the proper 
nse of a split-log drag costing $'3. 00 or less, our earth roads can he 
wonderfully improved. I favor macadamizing wherever it is possible. 
Constant attention is necessary for the maintenance of any road. If 
the road is earth, ditches will be cut into it by the wagon wheels 
except where broad tires are used by everybody. These ditches should 
be filled and smoothed over with a drag just as quickly as possible 
so that the water may escape from the surface of the road. If the 
water is permitted to stand in the wagon ruts it will soon loosen up 
and destroy the whole foundation of the road. 

If the road is macadam it may not need so much work, but it must 
have the same constant attention. The old expression, "A stitch in 
time saves nine" is certainly true in this case. Little l)reaks need 
little repairs, but a week later the little break may require repairs 
costing several dollars. 

Some of us appreciate the great work now being done by the })ub- 
tic school teachers for the development of the State, but 1 dare say 
that even they do not realize the greatness of their position nor the 
power of their influence. They can, and will, teach reading, writing 
and arithmetic, but they can do movQ. Tliey can teach the boys and 
girls the value of a noble Christian character. They can, to a great 
extent, prevent the killing of the birds which are of such immense 
value to the State. They can teach the lx\vs and girls to love these 
rocks and liills. lo love their homes and to make them better. They 
can create a like or a dislike for study and research in the great 
science of agriculture, the mastery of wliich requires more knowl- 
edge than any other' science known to num. They can teach the 
pupils the necessity for preserving the forests. They can teach them 
how to build roads. Often a little suggestion, sometimes only a word 
when walking liome from school, a five minutes talk on some subject 
may awaken thoughts and ambitions which will result in the ac- 
complishment of great things. 

I mention these things because of ni}' appreciation of the work of 
the teachers and because in my judgment, the text books contain 
-only a small part of what we learn at school. 

A'ery truly yours, 

H. E. Williams. 



Gl 




A Scene ix a L(_)s A\mii,s Scikioi, Garden. 




These Boys Who Were Ixcorkioibi.e Before They Became Interested ix 

School Garden Work. Afteravard -were the Most Obedient 

IN School. One of Them Took First Prize. 



&l 



OLTt STATE FLAG. 



Below is found House Joint l»esolution Xo. 2, adopted February 
"25th, 1907, adopting a State Flag for the State of West Virginia,. 

WiiEKEAs^ Tlie Legislature did on the 24th of February, 1905, (See 
Acts of 1895, pp. 320, 521) adopt a Joint Resolution providing for a 
State flag with design and proportions : 

And "whkreas. Such a flag has been found to be wholly impractica- 
ble for the reason that the lettering on one side reads towards the 
stall: and that the colors on both sides of a white field cannot be 
used without showing through when opjyosite each other, thus de- 
stroying the distinctive featuics of the hainitr and leaving the State 
without a prescribed official Hag : 

And avhereas. It will be necessary that the State shall have an 
official flag distinctively its own, among those of other States and 
Xations, at the Jamestown Exposition, and as well for many other 
purposes and occasions hereafter; therefore be it 
Besolved by the Legislature of West Virginia : 

That the Legislature of West Virginia hereby adopts a State flag 
of the following design and proportions, to-wit : Said State flag 
shall be in length and breadth in proportion, the same as the flag of 
the great American Eepublic of which West Virginia forms a part; 
the field thereof shall be pure wdiite, upon the center of which on 
the obverse side shall be the Great Seal or Coat of Arms of the State, 
beneath which shall appear the legend "State of West Virginia", in 
a scroll; on the reverse side shall appear a sprig, or sprigs of the 
Ehododendron Maximum, or '"'Big Laurel," our State flower, having 
l)lossoms and leaves; the field of pure white shall be bordered by a 
band or strip of blue and this in turn shall be bordered by a strip or 
fringe of old gold; and said flag shall be regarded and used as the 
AVest Virginia State flag on all occasions where a special display of 
the State's individuality shall become necessary, or be regarded a> 
jippropriate. 




A Lesson in the Schooi. Gakdex. 
Courtesy of the Flower Mission, Cleveland, Ohio. 




The Riiododenuro.\ as it Appears 0x\ Our State Flac 



G3 
MEMORIAL DAY AXD FLAG DAY EXERCISES 

The following programs for Memorial Day and Flag Day will 
-suggest to teachers a very pleasing exercise, that they may have on 
these occasions. Abundance of material may be found in various 
publications. 

MEMORIAL DAY PROGRAM. 

Song — In Memoriam : 

Recitation — The Blue and the Gray Finch 

Recitation — How Sleep the Brave Collins 

Song — God Speed the Right 

Essay — Lincoln. 

Recitation — Captain ! My Captain ! Whitman 

Song — The Battle Hymn of the Republic 

Recitation — The Phantom Army Harto 

Recitation — The Bivouac of the Dead O'Hara 

Song — The Breaking Waves Dashed High 

Recitation — Our Standing Army Vandergrift 

Song — America. 

FLAG DAY PROGRAM, JUXE 14. 

Whole school recite patriotic pledge Xo. 6 as given in the "^Manual 
■of Patriotism." 

Song— The Red, White and Blue. 
Essay — A History of the Flag. 

Recitation — Our Flag Margaret Sangster 

Reading — Giving the names of the original states and the names of 
those since admitted and the dates of their admission. 
Song — The Star Spangled Banner. 

Recitation — Love of Country Walter Scott 

Song— Song of the Flag M. Woolsey Stryker 

Recitation — The Ship of State Longfellow 

Song — Flag of the Free. 

Closing pledge recited by the whole school. 

"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it 
stands : 
One Xation indivisible, with Libertv and Justice for all." 



C-t 




OUE OAA'X IJED, WHITE AXD BLUE. 

There are manv flatus in iiianv laiid^;. 

There are Hag!" of cverv line. 
But there is no iUig liowcver grand. 

Like our own 'T^ed, Wliite and Blue," 

I know where the prettiei^t colors are, 

And I'm sure if I only knew 
How to get them here 1 conhl make a llag 
Of glorions "Ifed. White and Bhie." 

I wouhl cnt a piece from an evening sky, 
A\'here the stars Averc shining through, 

And use it just as it Avas on high, 
For my stars and field of hlue. 

Then I'd want a part of a fleecy cloud. 
And some red from a rainbow bright; 

And put them together side by side. 
For my stripes of red and white. 

"We shall always lore Hie Stars and >Stripes,' 

And we mean lo be ever true 
To this land of ours and the dear old flag, 

The Red. ihr White and thr Blue. 



Then hurrah for the Hag I our country's flag. 

Its stripes and wliite &tars too, 
There is no flag in any land 

Like our own "KVmL While and Blue."' — Selected. 




OUR STATE FLAG 



